


A Spark in the Dark

by greeneggs101



Series: An Ever Changing Sky [9]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Families of Choice, Feels, Final Battle, M/M, Shovel Talk, Team Bonding, post-Final Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-03-27 17:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13885668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: Lea isn’t sure when he became mixed up in this.But he wouldn’t trade it for anything.(In which Lea deals with posessed best a friend, a potential blonde love interest, and this spikey black-haired ball of anger and sadness.)...And there’s a final battle in here somewhere...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... you know when I said that the last in this series would be the last one? I lied... or rather, I got inspired. 
> 
> Lea decided that he wanted his own say in the series, and boy did he deliver. 
> 
> This first chapter is sandwiched in between the first chapter of "Wind Gusts" and "When a Tempest Meets a Landslide" and I would recommend reading those first just to get a feel for where this chapter squeezes in at. (I could move the series order around, but the last chapter of this story will happen after "Settling the Aftershocks" and I wanted to keep all of Lea's segments together, so this was the best I could come up with)

Isa always found it hilarious and stupid at the same time. Despite Lea’s insistance for people to remember his own name (Got it memorized?), Lea was not good at remembering other people’s names. The redhead knew this and generally made up for it with stupid nicknames until he could finally remember someone’s name. Lea rather thought it was part of his charm. 

Some people’s names, like Roxas, stuck on the first try. But he called Xigbar, “patchy” for weeks until the gun toting nobody threatened to castrate him. He made a point to remember Xigbar’s name from then on.

So when Sora and Riku went out on a mission with the new blue haired chick and returned minus the chick but instead with a black haired girl and not one, but two, blondies in tow, Lea had a bit of an issue. After many hugs exchanged with Xion and Roxas, Lea left them to rest while he waited for Sora to introduce him to the second blonde. 

The name wriggled at the back of his mind. He knew that blonde, but he just couldn’t remember his name... It started with a V...Vu? Vani? Ve?...

“It’s still Lea, right? I didn’t forget.”

Well, shit. Now Lea felt really bad. He tried for a smile, “Yeah... good to know you got it memorized.” At least one of them did. “I’m sorry...”

“Huh? For what?”

“It’s nothing,” Lea quickly stated, then grimace. This was definitely not nothing, “But, I kind of forgot you...a little?” Lea was terrible at this. At the back of his mind, he could practically see Isa smirking at him in amusement and mouthing ‘Lame.’ 

He tried to clear his thoughts. “I mean. Not really? It’s... complicated.” Understatement of the freaking year. “Basically I became a bad guy for a while, and you were there, but it wasn’t you, and by then I had forgotten what you looked like, but the other you looked so familiar and I think it was because part of me remembered you...and...” Lea rambled, trying to get his story straight while also trying to remember this dude’s name!

Not-Roxas tilted his head, “There... was another me?”

Lea tried to laugh, but it came out more of a nervous chuckle. “Not exactly?”

Not-Roxas blinked. “That’s... helpful.”

“Maybe it would help if he just saw what you are talking about, rather than you trying to explain.”

Thank the Kingdom Hearts for Roxas. He knew his little blonde buddy wouldn’t leave him stammering like an idiot. 

Isa though. Isa totally would have. And laughed about it. 

Lea shook that thought out of his head. Isa kept coming back to haunt him, but now wasn’t a good time. Now he needed to focus. 

He needed to remember this guy’s name!

Thankfully, he began to pay attention to the conversation again for for the wonder twins staring at each other before Ven let out a grin. 

“Ventus...People call me Ven.”

Ven! That’s it! Lea tried not to shout his excitement out loud, for risk of not only revealing his shame, but also ruining his cool image. Riku wasn’t the only one who could do cool. 

Sora then came up, swinging an arm around both twins and exclaiming about the weirdness of it all. Lea couldn’t help but agree. 

Over the next few days, Lea tried really hard to remember Ven’s name. Some days he still slipped up and nearly called him Roxas. Worse were the days when he knew the blonde he was talking to wasn’t Roxas but he couldn’t remember the name Ven and so nearly called him “Not-Roxas.” 

Eventually, he got it right, but it took a while. 

\---

“I haven’t been back here since I started training!” Kairi exclaimed, balancing on the edge of a wall. Lea kept an eye on her warily, ready to catch her if she lost her balance.

She never did. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here... not really...” Roxas muttered beside him, warily glancing down every alleyway and dark corner. 

They were on a supply run to Radiant Garden, needing a quick break from training. Riku and Sora were off world trying to find Aqua, who had still not returned from fighting off Xehanort’s seekers of darkness. Lea knew they couldn’t keep the truth from Ventus forever. 

Even in the bright sunlight that permeated the streets of Radiant Garden, Lea couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. He tried to distract himself with the mission at hand.

“I’ve been back to check in on the others,” Lea stated, glancing at the marketplace below. “But that was mostly the castle... I don’t think I’ve stepped outside since...” He trailed off, not really wanting to think about it. 

“Since you were a nobody?” Kairi questioned, though they all knew the answer.

“Yeah... Isa and I... we made it a habit to sneak into the castle, trying to get past Dilan and Aeleus. They’d catch us every time, but we just wanted to know what was going on in there,” Lea huffed out a chuckle, but he couldn’t find the humor in it, not now. 

He felt a pressure on his hand. Glancing down, Lea found that Roxas had taken his hand, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and reassurance. He hurried to finish the story, “One day... Dilan and Aeleus weren’t guarding the castle gate as usual, and we thought we had finally hit our lucky day. So we snuck around the different rooms, found the library and all. Then... they caught us. It was Xaldin and Lexaeus, but we thought they were still Dilan and Aeleus at first. We were so excited, teasing them that we had finally gotten in....But then...”

Another reassuring squeeze on his hand, and even Kairi had stepped closer, offering her support. 

“They turned Isa first... then me...” 

“I’m sorry, Lea. That must have been awful...” Kairi gently touched his shoulder and squeezed it gently. 

Lea looked at her, and was reminded that she had seen essentially the same thing happen to Sora in nearly the exact same place. “Yeah... well... It’s in the past now right? And what was that saying Sora’s friends say? The little rat and pig?”

“Timon and Pumbaa?” Roxas laughed, “Hakuna Matata, right?”

“Right!” Lea tried for a smile, and it felt like it was working, “No worries!”

Kairi huffed out a giggle, and rubbed at her eye with the back of her hand, “Anyway, c’mon. We have to complete our mission before sunset.”

“I think this is more of a supply run than a mission,” Roxas stated, but he pulled the list of items from his pocket. “Let’s see, we need potions, high potions, elixirs, ethers...”

“Basically everything...” Lea muttered. “Sora goes through that stuff like it’s water...”

“We all do... it’s been a rough few months...” Kairi chided. 

“Then you should stock up while you can!” A new voice shouted from the end of the street. 

Kairi instantly perked up and she ran ahead. “Leon!”

In the distance, Lea could just make out the figure of a man with brown hair standing at the end of the street waving at Kairi. As Lea and Roxas stepped closer, Lea got a better glance at the man’s face.

“Oh...shit,” Lea muttered. Next to him Roxas gave him a questioning look. 

Lea forgot a number of names and faces over his life time, but he wouldn’t be forgetting this one anytime soon, even with the new addition of scar tissue across his face. It had chased him from one end of town to the other on more than a few occasions. The redhead bit back the childish urge to run now. Maybe this guy wouldn’t recognize him? 

But Lea was not that lucky. 

As Roxas all but dragged Lea closer, the brunet’s face lit up in recognition before hardening into a glare that froze the fire in Lea’s soul. 

“You,” the brunet stated. 

Lea coughed, “Me?”

The brunet’s glare hardened and Lea again pushed down that urge to retreat. He was older now dammit! He could face this!

“Do you know Lea, Leon?” Kairi asked, then giggled a bt at the alliteration. 

“He used to set fires to the town square on occasion,” a different voice answered, right next to Lea.

This time Lea couldn’t repress the urge to jump into Roxas’s arms. The blonde barely held onto his weight, but Lea knew Roxas would protect him from the scary blonde that just appeared from the shadows. 

Distantly, he heard Kairi laughing and, childish or not, he stuck his tongue out at her. She returned the gesture and continued giggling. “That sounds like our favorite pyromaniac.”

Lea huffed and reluctantly let go of Roxas. “They make it sound like I did it all the time. It was only a max of like... maybe three.”

“Try six...” Leon ran a hand through his hair in agitation. 

“At least two of those were totally Isa’s fault,” Lea argued. When neither the brunet nor the scary blonde went for the swords at their backs, he stood up a little straighter. “What’s with the nickname? Last I was here, you still went by Squall.”

“Things change, Axel,” Leon’s glare returned and Lea struggled to meet it. 

“Ah... yeah... sorry...” the redhead ran a hand through his own hair, “No fires this time, I promise.”

Leon huffed and his glare finally softened into something slightly less menacing. He then turned to the blonde at Lea’s side. “.... and you are?”

Roxas stood up straight and smiled, “I’m Roxas... I was Sora’s...”

“Sora’s nobody...” Leon finished. He looked towards Kairi, “If he’s here then...”

“Sora’s fine!” Kairi hurriedly reassured the brunet, “I promise! Sorry for the lack of communication, but things have been hectic. Riku somehow managed to free Roxas, another Keyblade wielder, Ven, and another girl from Sora’s heart.” 

“From Sora’s heart?” Leon questioned, the scary blonde at his side. Lea struggled to remember scary blonde’s name. 

Kairi nodded, “Yeah... it’s complicated.”

“No kidding,” scary blonde muttered before turning back to Lea and Roxas. After a moment he smirked at Lea, “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

Lea felt his face grow hot, “Shut up! Yes I do... you’re... uh... um...” 

“Cloud.”

“I knew it was something weather related!” Lea exclaimed. Roxas laughed as his expense. 

“It’s not nice to forget the name of the guy who used to hide you and Isa from Leon all the time,” Cloud huffed, but he had the edge of a smile still gracing his features. “See if I cover for your ass again.” 

Again Kairi laughed, “Wow, Lea. You sure seemed to have gotten into trouble a lot.”

“You have no idea,” Leon muttered, and then turned around, “C’mon, Aerith has got lunch ready and you three look like you need it.” He began walking down the street, Cloud at his side. 

“Lunch?” Roxas questioned, leaving Lea’s side to catch up to Leon. “What’s for lunch?”

Leon huffed and laid a hand on Roxas’s hair, rubbing it fondly. “You’ll see when we get there, kid.”

Roxas quickly ducked out from Leon’s hand, hanging back to let Lea catch up. The redhead noticed Leon glance briefly at Roxas, confusion in his eyes, but just as quickly shrugged it off. 

The older men led them to a small shack of a building that Lea vaguely remembered belonging to a wizard of some kind. 

“Leon! You’re back!” a dark haired girl ran up to them. “Hey you brought Kairi!” She glanced at Lea and Roxas. “Lea? Is that you? And... Sora?” She stared at Roxas in confusion.

“No... My name’s Roxas,” the blonde muttered a little put out. 

“Oh sorry!” the dark haired girl grinned, “I am the great ninja Yuffie!” She grinned at Roxas till the blonde relented and grinned back. Then she turned to Lea. “No setting fires! We just got everything cleaned up!”

“Why is that the only thing people remember of me!”

“Well, you did want people to remember you!” Yuffie grinned, “It’s not our fault that’s the only thing of importance you did.”

Lea stuck out his tongue, “You haven’t changed a bit.” At least, he didn’t think she had. His memory was a little fuzzy on Yuffie. 

She just laughed and ran through a door, “Aerith! Leon and Cloud brought guests!”

They were led through the doorway and down a hallway that ended in a kitchen. A young woman was at the stove, cooking something that smelled delicious. Another older blonde man was washing dirty dishes, and the table was already laid out with a few dishes. 

The woman turned, and offered Lea a grin. “Lea, it’s so nice to see you again.” Lea wished he could return the sentiment, but he couldn’t remember this woman at all. She then gave Roxas a grin, “Nice to meet you.”

Roxas grinned. “I’m Roxas!” 

“Aerith,” the woman offered. 

Aerith. The name didn’t spark any memory with Lea no matter how hard he tried. 

Lean helped set out bowls for the soup Aerith was cooking, Cloud following behind and setting out glasses of water. Kairi had helped the man at the sink dry the dishes, struggling to put some of them away on the top shelves. Lea sighed and went over to help her, knowing that it would probably end with her elbow in his gut. 

“Take a seat, Roxas” Cloud offered.

“Thanks.”

There was a scraping sound behind him as Roxas sat down. Lea smirked at Kairi as he took the plate out of her hand and placed it on the top shelf with the others. As expected, she elbowed him for helping, but it wasn’t as sharp as it used to be. 

“Man, you got tall,” a gruff voice said behind him.

Lea turned and couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t recognized the man from behind, but now standing in front of him, Lea barely restrained the urge to hug the crotchety old man. “Cid!”

Cid huffed, “Not still stealing gummi parts are you?”

“Nope, cleaned up my act! Promise!”

“Yeah, he graduated on to kidnapping,” Kairi muttered, but giggled when Lea shot her a wounded look. “But we forgive him for that.”

Lea grinned. 

“What about Isa?” Cid asked, “Never saw one of you without the other.”

Lea’s grin fell. “That’s... complicated...”

“Tell us over lunch,” Leon suggested, laying a hand on his shoulder and directing him to the table. 

The tale unfolded over sandwiches and soup, Kairi and Roxas jumping in to provide extra detail as needed. 

“So... do you think he’s found all thirteen vessels then?” Leon asked, his hands crossed in front of him. Cloud was staring at his plate, barely pushing the food around.

“Mickey thinks he has,” Kairi stated.

Cloud huffed. “Sound’s bad...”

“Yeah...we have to be ready at any moment.” Roxas sighed, “It’s made planning anything difficult.”

Lea observed as Cloud glanced at Leon, his hand coming up to rest on top of the brunet’s, a bright silver band glinting off one of his fingers. Lea looked closer and saw Leon sporting a similar ring. 

Oh.

“We’ll beat him,” Lea stated. “Then we can start planning again.”

Roxas brightened up, “Yeah, like a trip to the beach!”

“And visiting all our friends,” Kairi added. 

“We’re looking forward to it,” Cloud nodded at them, squeezing Leon’s hand in reassurance. 

“And you can bring Isa home,” Leon stated. “We’ve already seen a few of the researchers around town. Even and the others. They seem... skittish.”

“They’re just nervous I guess...” Lea stated, “You know... since we kind of were a big part in destroying the world.”

“We’ll have to bring them dinner,” Aerith stated. “They shouldn’t isolate themselves in that lab.”

Cid huffed, “Why should we. They did help destroy our world.”

“It wasn’t exactly them... just shells of themselves,” Lea tried to defend

“They meddled in something that they shouldn’t have,” Yuffie spoke up. 

“Well yeah, but...” Lea trailed off, not sure how to respond. 

“Enough...” Leon stood up, picking up his empty dishes, “We’ll bring them dinner, and then we can go from there.”

“It’s easier to forgive on a full stomach,” Aerith agreed, picking up her own dishes and heading for the sink. 

The rest finished off the food before they all piled their dishes next to the sink. 

Yuffie turned to Roxas, “C’mon Sora, you gonna help or what?”

Roxas bristled, “I’m NOT Sora. I am me, not anyone else.” 

Lea couldn’t help but flinch. It was still a sore spot with Roxas, to be reminded that he wasn’t always his own person. 

Yuffie, to her credit, turned red and mumbled out an apology for her teasing, quickly making herself scarce. Lea watched her go then turned to flip on the water and began to fill the empty soup pot with soap. 

“Roxas, help me with dishes,” Cloud asked softly. “Leon, take Kairi and Lea shopping.”

“Right...” Leon stepped back from the sink and motioned for Kairi and Lea to follow him. 

Lea followed hesitantly, glancing back at Roxas in concern, but the blond waved him off. 

“Go on, I’ll be fine...” Roxas seemed tired, but Lea knew when he needed some space. 

Lea followed Kairi and Leon out the door, heading for the marketplace. It had changed up a lot since he had been here. 

And there were lots of people waving him and asking how he was, what he was doing, where Isa was. Lea answered these questions with a grin and a wave but as he turned to leave, he was still left with the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing who the heck they were. 

“Friend?” Kairi asked after one such stop, a grin on her face.

“No idea,” Lea grumbled, shaking his head. “C’mon, I think we got enough... Let’s go save Roxas from the dishes.”

Kairi glanced over at him but didn’t say anything, only smirked knowingly. Lea realized then that she had been spending entirely too much time in his presence. She took half the bags in her arms arms and headed off to find Leon

Leon was still bartering with the item shop attendant so they waved at him as they passed by, knowing he’d catch up later. Together they headed towards Merlin’s house, Lea’s steps a little faster in his eagerness to get back to Roxas. 

“So... finally ventured out of the castle?” a voice behind them said. 

Lea stopped, shoving his bags at Kairi before turning to face the figure behind them. Though his hood was up, Lea would recognize that voice anywhere.

“Isa...”

“Lea,” the figured lowered his hood, revealing blue hair and golden eyes. 

Axel hadn’t been bothered when his friend’s eye color had changed. It was just another quirk of being a nobody. But Lea hated that color, reminding him that he had lost one of his best friends a long time ago. 

“Lea!” Kairi called out, already dropping the bags, “Focus!” She called on her keyblade and glared at the nobody. 

Saïx already looked bored with the confrontation, “Still helping the guardians of light, Lea? Not like you’ll ever be one of them.”

Lea growled and called for a weapon, any weapon. 

Naturally, his chakrams came first. 

Whatever. Lea didn’t need a keyblade to take Saïx down. 

Isa scoffed, “You can’t even summon a keyblade properly.”

Lea was surprised when Kairi apparently took that as a personal attack against her and launched at Saïx. He deflected her easily, but still, Lea was touched. 

The taller redhead attacked as well as Kairi was thrown off. Saïx called on his claymore and defended Lea’s attack, kicking him in the ribs to push him back. Lea let out a grunt but pushed back, going in for another attack. 

“Lea!” Kairi cried out, sounding slightly panicked. 

Lea glanced up from where he had been focused on Saïx’s smirking face. Around them, two more robed figures were arriving, one wielding a keyblade while the other just observed the confrontation. Neither were as tall as Saïx, looking to be more Roxas’ height.

“Shit,” Lea muttered. _Is he recruiting kids now?_

The older redhead retreated from his attack on Saïx to cover Kairi’s back. 

“What do you want?” Kairi asked boldly.

“The thirteen are not yet assembled, Princess,” Saïx stated. “Our intelligence shows that a suitable candidate is here.”

It took Lea a moment, but his eyes widened when he realized it, “Roxas.” He glanced towards the street that led to Merlin's house.

“Precisely.” 

“Well, you’ll have to go through us to get to him!” Kairi shouted, still holding up her keyblade, her back pressed to Lea’s.

Lea kept an eye on Saïx while also trying to get a feel for their other opponents. The one with the keyblade held his blade high in the air, much like Riku, though the blade was more gear-like and wrapped in chains. The other just stood with his hands to the sides, but Lea could sense the darkness radiating from them. 

Suddenly, the unarmed one let off a dark fireball towards Kairi. Lea hurried to block it while Kairi fired back with her keyblade. Sensing movement behind him, Lea turned just in time to block an attack from the keyblade wielder. 

He saw Saïx start to disappear through another portal and Lea threw a chakram at him, effectively knocking Saïx down before he could disappear completely. 

“No way,” Lea muttered, “You are not taking another friend from me!” 

“After everything you did, do you really deserve friends? Do you really think you can protect them?” Saïx said, quickly recovering and lifting Lea’s own chakram into his hand. “You were more useful as a nobody.” He threw the chakram back at Lea.

Too late, Lea realized it was a trap. As he reached out for the weapon tossed to him, he let his guard down for a moment, allowing the keyblade wielder to launch into an attack, aiming his keyblade right for Lea’s unprotected chest. 

Time seemed to slow down. Lea had a flashback to more than 10 years ago, watching Isa as he screamed and collapsed, a bright light appearing from his chest. Golden eyes and a cruel smirk as he was restrained and a keyblade pressed into his own chest. The pain had been indescribable, and when he next woke, he didn’t really care about the feeling. Or anything at all. 

Lea closed his eyes, trying to brace himself for that pain again. 

“Lea!” 

The older redhead heard a high pitched gasp. When he opened his eyes, he saw Kairi standing in front of him, arms spread wide as she took the blow meant for him. The keyblade was buried in her chest before the wielder withdrew it. Kairi collapsed in his arms. 

“Kairi!” Lea cried out. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing, which was a good sign. She wasn’t fading either. Lea laid her gently on the ground, standing over her body. This time when he called on a weapon, the keyblade appeared easily to his hand. He brandished it quickly, ready to take on any attack. 

“Stupid princess,” Saïx muttered. “We can’t afford her to go to sleep again...”

Lea growled and hurled a fireball at him, “Then maybe you should think of that before you go attacking people.” He quickly launched into an attack, fending off both of Saïx’s lackeys and sending another fireball that sent the blue haired man flying. 

Saïx scoffed as he got back to his feet. Calling his claymore back into his hand, the blue haired man started drawing energy from around them, and Lea knew he was going for a beserk attack. Lea gripped his keyblade tighter, ready for it. 

“Hey, Saïx!” a voice shouted. 

Lea watched as Roxas appeared from nowhere and slapped his keyblade down on Saïx’s head. He dodged out of the way just as a large ball of energy slammed into Saïx’s side. The attacks startled Saïx out of his berserker phase and the energy dissipated. 

Meanwhile, the two lackies were pushed back by a blade larger than Lea. 

Soon Lea had Roxas back by his side, joined by Leon and Cloud. 

Saïx scoffed as he got up, summoning a portal and disappearing through it. The two others made to follow, but the one who threw the first dark fireball seemed to stare a Lea for a long moment.

No... not at Lea. Behind him. 

The hooded figure that wielded the gear like keyblade seemed to shake his head for a moment before pushing his fellow hooded figure though the portal, the darkness closing up around them.

Lea started to glance back to see what the other figure had been staring at but Roxas’s startled shout drew his attention instead. 

“Kairi!” Roxas called out, leaning over the fallen redhead. Lea ran to get a potion out of the bag, knowing that his own cure spells were shit on the best days. 

Kairi groaned and coughed as she opened her eyes, “I’m fine... Princess of Heart, remember? It’s gonna take a bit more than that to take my heart.”

Lea chuckled weakly and handed her the potion, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I did,” Kairi stated, sitting up with Roxas’s help to take the potion. She groaned again, the battle taking more out of her than she wanted to admit. “Just don’t tell Sora and Riku, okay? I really don’t want them fussing over me.”

Lea let out a chuckle, Roxas joining in. 

“Hey, guys? Is she with you?” Leon’s voice rose over the laughter. 

Lea looked over. He was shocked when he saw the light blonde hair and pale skin. Roxas let out an equally shocked gasp. 

“Namine?” 

Namine blinked her eyes open for a moment before falling back unconscious. 

Kairi, Lea and Roxas all looked at each other before rushing over to the pale blonde. Lea reached her first, Roxas and Kairi not far behind. 

Was it Namine that the hooded figure had been looking at?

“Namine?” Kairi laid a hand on her nobody’s arm.

“I don’t understand,” Roxas stated, “I didn’t think Princesses of Heart created nobodies...  
He looked at Kairi, but she was just as lost. 

“We don’t... our hearts can be taken under great force, but our bodies usually just fall into a sort of sleep,” Kairi shrugged, “I think.”

“Sounds like you better get her back to Yen Sid,” Leon suggested. Cloud was already pulling the girl up in to his arms, heading back to Merlin’s house. “You can grab the rest of your gear and board the ship near the house,” Leon elaborated. He helped them gather the rest of their items and they hurried back to the house. 

Merlin was equally surprised by the return of Namine, but could offer no explanation to why she would have returned now. “From what I understand, the creation of Namine was so unique, one would think that a return would require equally unique circumstances.” 

“Maybe it’s like with Roxas and Xion...” Kairi wondered, a finger on her chin in thought. “Riku says that it’s because Sora saw them as their own people, and so they were able to form their own hearts. Sora always saw Namine as her own person too.”

“So did you,” Lea cut in, “It was never like what the rest of us nobodies went through. Axel and I are the same...just... different.” It was hard to explain, but Kairi nodded in understanding. 

“Right... and Roxas and Xion saw Namine as her own person too. And Riku,” Kairi sighed, and ran a hand over Namine’s brow where the paler blond was still resting in Cloud’s arms. “Maybe it was just fate this would happen.”

“All the same, better bring her home soon. She’s not in any condition to fight if those Organization guys come back,” Leon had gone around and packed everyone’s bags, handing them off as they headed for the door. 

Roxas and Kairi carried Namine between them to the Gummiship while Lea grabbed the remaining bags of items. Just as he was about to exit the house, a hand landed on his shoulder. Startled, he turned expecting Leon ready to warn them about something else. 

Instead of it was Cloud.

The blonde was silent for a moment before shifting his weight. The movement brought Lea’s attention to the giant sword still in Cloud’s hand. The blonde had picked it up again after he passed Namine off to her friends.

“About you and Roxas,” the blonde began, voice turning to steel. 

Lea froze. He was pretty sure he even stopped breathing, his arms tightening around the bags of items. 

“You hurt him, then the things Leon has threatened to do to Riku will seem tame to what I will do to you.” Cloud’s voice was even, but the edge never went away. 

Lea felt his adam’s apple bob when he swallowed around his dry throat and he felt a bead of sweat make its way down from his temple. “I...I’ll keep that in mind...sir!” 

Cloud relaxed minutely, “See that you do.” He nodded and Lea eagerly took that as his cue to leave. 

He hurried to follow the others back onto the gummiship, hiding behind Roxas while the others waved at the members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Lea resolved to never, ever, forget Cloud again. 

“I’ll contact Sora and Riku,” Kairi was saying, shaking Leon’s hand. “I’m sure he’ll visit you soon.” 

The trip back was thankfully uneventful. Namine was still unconscious when they brought her into the tower, much to the shock of Sora and Riku. 

Yen Sid was equally unsure of her appearance, but admitted that Kairi’s theory was the likely explanation. 

“Either way,” Yen Sid stated, brushing a hand down his beard in what Lea came to determine was a nervous tick, “it would probably be best to keep her within the boundaries of the tower until this war is over. Much like Xion and even Roxas, she is at risk at falling under Xehanort’s influence due to her unique circumstances.” He ushered them to take her to the same room as Xion to rest until she recovered. 

They quickly recounted the rest of their trip, though Lea left out the part of Cloud threatening him if he hurt Roxas. Though later he caught Riku alone and wrapped an arm around the slightly shorter man’s neck. 

“Dude, I promise to never tease you about Leon again.”

Riku shrugged him off, “Oh? Why the change of heart?”

“Cause I have the actually scary one threatening me...” Lea shuddered at the thought. 

Predictably, Riku laughed, “Cloud?” Riku coughed a bit to try to cover up his giggles, “So I guess you didn’t really hide your feelings for Roxas that well?”

Lea felt his cheeks turn the same color as his hair, “Shut up! You weren’t that great either when you were mooning over Sora.” 

“Yeah well...” Riku seemed to recover, and then, surprisingly his own face turned a bit red and he rubbed at his hair absently with his hand. “You know... I never apologized... for what I did to Roxas.” He turned back to Lea and met his eyes, “I’m sorry.”

Lea sighed and laid a hand on the silver haired boy’s shoulder, “It all worked out in the end. Besides. I’m sorry too. If I had the chance, I would have turned Sora back into a heartless again, if only to see Roxas one last time.”

Riku shrugged, “I guess love makes us do stupid things.”

“Really stupid things...in your case,” Lea agreed and then laughed while he dodged Riku’s half hearted punch. 

After dinner that night, Lea went to his and Roxas’s usual spot at the top of the tower. It wasn’t quite like the clock tower in Twilight Town, but they had decided to wait until Xion was well again before they revisited their usual spot. Roxas was already there, eating one of the sea salt ice creams they had brought back from Radiant Garden. 

“Hey,” Lea greeted taking a seat next to the blonde. 

“Hey,” Roxas replied, offering another ice cream bar. 

Lea took a bite, enjoying the salty sweetness of the ice cream and looking out over the constant twilight on the horizon. “You know... I’ve been wondering. What did you and Cloud talk about while we are at the marketplace today?” When Roxas remained silent, Lea looked over, “Roxas?”

Roxas was doing his best impression of a tomato, quickly stuffing his face with ice cream. “Ummmm... Nothing!” 

Lea smirked, “Really? Cause it didn’t sound like nothing... especially after he threatened me...”

Roxas glanced up, still a bit red in the cheeks, “He did?! He didn’t have to do that! I didn’t say anything about you doing something wrong I swear! I--” he cut off when he caught Lea laughing. 

“Yeah I figured,” Lea’s laughter died down to a few chuckles, “I think they just sort of adopted you, like they dd Sora.”

Roxas let out a deep sigh, “Yeah...”

Lea bumped his shoulder, “You know we don’t think that you’re the same person as Sora right? They all know that, they’re just teasing...” He took another bite of ice cream, “Besides, you’re so adorable, who wouldn’t want to adopt you?”

Roxas’s cheeks tinged pink again and he took another bite of ice cream, “I know. Cloud said that too. That they didn’t really see Sora once they got to know me. That Yuffie didn’t mean anything by it. But he also said that if it really bothered me, they would stop.” 

“Good...” Lea rubbed Roxas’s spiky head, 

“Yeah...” Roxas grinned a little, leaning into the hand. 

Lea grinned and took another bite of ice cream. 

“Hey, Lea?” Roxas asked softly. 

“Huh?” Lea turned and found a pair of lips attaching themselves to his. 

Lea’s brain pretty much blanked out before instinct took over and he gently cupped the back of Roxas’s neck and kissed back. The blonde let out a happy sigh against their joined lips. 

Reluctantly, the redhead broke a part to breathe, watching Roxas’s red face in amusement. It was quickly becoming Lea’s favorite shade of red. 

“Well... what brought that on?” Lea smirked, leaning in again to kiss the corner of Roxas’s mouth. 

“Um..uh...well...” Roxas stumbled over his words, clearly distracted by the kisses Lea kept placing over his face. “Ugh... would you stop that! I can’t concentrate to think...”

Lea chuckled but leaned away. “Well?”

Finally Roxas let out a shrug. “Dunno, just felt like it. I just... I knew you liked me but you weren’t making a move and I was talking about it with Cloud. He said that Leon was the same so he just went for it...” The blonde looked away, “I’m sorry if you didn’t like it.”

“Uh Roxas? You were there when I started kissing back right? I liked it.” To show his complete appreciation of the gesture, he leaned in and caught Roxas’s face, bringing it back up for another kiss. 

“I was just a little startled,” he elaborated as they pulled away. “I didn’t know that you returned the feelings though. I thought between Namine or Xion...” Lea trailed off. 

“Yeah, they’re my friends, but Lea,” Roxas turned, pulling his legs up over the edge, “You’re my best friend. What I feel for you is a lot stronger than that. I talked about it with Sora too. He said that’s how he felt with Riku...so...” this time it was Roxas’s turn to trail off and Lea took pity on him, drawing him in for another kiss. 

After a moment of hesitation, Roxas responded, evidently placing his ice cream down in favor of running his hands through Lea’s hair. Lea adjusted so he could pull Roxas more fully against him. 

_“Hey!”_

They broke apart at the sudden shout from down below. Glancing over the edge, they found Riku, Sora, and Kairi at the entrance of the tower staring at a spot of light blue that had landed in Riku’s hair. 

“Why is it raining ice cream?” Sora wondered aloud. 

Riku turned his glare upwards and Roxas and Lea quickly pulled their feet over the edge and hid. In the scuffle, Roxas’s hand hit the rest of the melting ice cream over the edge. 

“Ack!” Sora cried out. 

They could hear Kairi’s laughter all the way as they made their way back through the window and down the stairs to the bedroom area. Roxas was choking back laughter and Lea couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face if he tried. 

They hid in their room for the rest of the night, offering plausible deniability over the ice cream. They could hear Sora and Riku complaining all the way to their room, though things got suspiciously quiet when they entered the showers to wash their hair. 

Though they kissed goodnight, they went to sleep in their separate beds, Roxas curling up under his numerous blankets. 

Lea found that he couldn’t sleep, the day running through his head on repeat and Saïx’s words ringing in his ears. 

_“After everything you did, do you really deserve friends? Do you really think you can protect them?...You were more useful as a nobody.”_

Lea let out a sigh, before swinging out of bed, dragging a blanket with him. Maybe he could go lay on the couch reading for a bit to see if that would clear his head. He grabbed the book on magic Aqua had suggested they all read and opened the door softly, not wanting to wake Roxas. 

The hallways were empty, only the dim glow of the starry hall lamps guiding his way to the living room. He curled up on the couch, but didn’t feel like turning on the lamp just yet to read. 

The war was kicking up a notch. Now they had Namine back on their side. With today’s little escapade, it was clear that the Organization were getting ready for their part. Lea and Kairi had to rush through their training to catch up and there was no way Mickey and Yen Sid were going to send them out on missions alone anymore. 

Lea thought it rather sounded like the days in the first Organization, minus Saïx’s stupid reports. 

The redhead let out a sigh and wondered if it was even worth continuing his keyblade training. He had Roxas and Xion back, which also meant that the guardians had two vastly more experienced keyblade wielders than himself. If Mickey found the other friend he was looking for, there would be yet another. Lea didn’t think Namine could wield a keyblade, but anything was possible. Would they have to choose seven for the final battle? Or was that just an arbitrary number Xehanort had come up with? 

Either way, it probably meant that Lea was a useless spare. He couldn’t even summon his keyblade on the first try. 

“What are you doing up so late?” a voice startled him out of his thoughts. Turning, he saw Sora standing by the doorway that led to the kitchen, a mug in hand. He took a sip from it and made a face, scrunching his eyes and sticking out his tongue. “Yuck... I burned the milk again.”

Lea laughed at his soured face and disentangled himself from the blankets. “What were you trying to make?”

“Hot chocolate,” Sora pouted at the mug. “You can’t pity yourself while drinking hot chocolate, it’s the law.”

Lea huffed out a soft laugh and took Sora’s mug from him, quickly dumping the scalded contents into the sink, much to Sora’s despair. Lea got out a clean pan and the milk, pouring enough for two hot chocolates. “The trick is to keep stirring the pot on low heat.” 

He added in the cocoa and sugar while he continued to stir, then turned back to Sora, “So why were you pitying yourself.”

Sora sighed and shrugged, “Bad dream...” he blushed and looked away a bit, “Kairi was hurt again, and I wasn’t there to help her!” He let out a sigh, “I just feel so useless sometimes.” 

Lea couldn’t help but huff. Even their great savior felt useless. That must make him even worse than useless. 

“So why are you up so late?” Sora asked again, evidently noticing Lea’s withdrawn expression. 

“Same, I guess.” Lea sighed, turning off the heat and pouring the hot chocolate into two clean mugs. “Here.” He passed one to Sora who took it eagerly. 

Sora’s expressioned after he took one sip, “Thanks. That’s loads better.” 

The redhead smiled and took a sip from his own mug. Sora might be onto something with the hot chocolate alleviating self pity. He already felt better. 

“Why were you feeling useless?” Sora asked, “You helped save Kairi when she fell. And you saved me when Xehanort almost got me!”

Lea shrugged, “I’m not as good with the keyblade as you and the others. I won’t be any good as a guardian of light...” not after the things I did, Lea added silently. 

“But that’s what makes you so awesome!” Sora exclaimed.

Lea tilted his head, “Huh?” 

Sora grinned and took another quick sip of hot chocolate, “You’re pretty good at the keyblade, but you’re really good with those other weapons... the chalk..uh...”

“Chakrams,” Lea supplied. 

“Exactly!” Sora exclaimed, “If something happens to your keyblade, you got a pretty good back up! All I had was a wooden sword...”

Lea wasn’t sure what that meant, but he appreciated what Sora was trying to say. “Thanks Sora...”

“No problem!” Sora grinned and drained the rest of his drink. “Thanks again, Lea!” 

Lea chuckled and placed Sora’s mug in the sink. When he looked up, he found Sora still hovering in the doorway, “Yes?”

“Uh...” Sora giggled nervously, “It’s just.... The next time you and Roxas make out on the roof, do you think you could finish your ice cream first? That stuff is was really hard to get out of my hair.” 

Lea couldn’t help but laugh, even as he felt his cheeks heat up. “Got it.... Though... you and Riku must have had fun getting the ice cream out.” He winked as Sora’s face went red. 

“Shut up! Nothing happened!”

“Uh huh.. Sure...” Lea chuckled as Sora stuck out his tongue and ran down the hall. The redhead gathered up the rest of the dishes and left them in the sink to soak. He saw the burned results of Sora’s earlier attempt and he rinsed those out as well. 

He finished off his own hot chocolate, setting the mug in the wink to rinse with the rest and then made his way back to his room. 

Ducking in, he saw that Roxas had moved from his own bed and was now sitting on Lea’s, his blankets piled around him.

“Where’d you go?” Roxas asked as Lea took a seat beside him. “Woke up from a nightmare...”

Lea smiled and wrapped an arm around him. “Sorry... just sat on the couch for a bit to clear my head. Helped Sora fix up some hot chocolate.”

“Oh...” Roxas sighed and leaned into Lea, curling as close as he could. “Mmmm... Warm...” 

Lea chuckled, helping Roxas lay down and curling up beside him. Roxas abandoned his death grip on the blankets and curled a fist in Lea’s shirt instead. “Who figured you’d be a blanket hog,” Lea chuckled, wrapping an arm around Roxas. 

“Been feeling so cold at night...” Roxas murmured, shuffling closer. “Think it’s cause I’m used to the warmth of Sora’s heart...”

Lea frowned, hugging Roxas tighter. “Do... do you regret being separated from him?”

Roxas huffed, pulling away just enough to meet Lea’s eyes, “Don’t be stupid. This is much better. Now shut up and go to sleep.”

Lea grinned and closed his eyes, Roxas’s soft breathing lulling him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the "final battle" (which is more than a little daunting to write, mostly because I know the game will do it 100x better, but I work with what I got).


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter takes place right before "Settling the Aftershocks" and this is my version of "The Final Battle" for KH3.

After the incident in Radiant Garden, Lea seemed to spot Xehanort’s organization members everywhere. Some confronted the Guardians directly, seeming to want to just cause trouble in whatever world they happened to be on. Others just observed silently in the shadow, Lea not knowing they were ever there until he caught the last wisps of a dark portal fading out of existence. 

Sora had mentioned that he had seen Marluxia running around, but no one could pinpoint if he was one of the thirteen or not. When pressed, Lea couldn’t even remember when Marluxia had joined the organization or where he had originated from. For the meantime, they put him in the list of potential members, which still drew the number of known members at a little over half. The rest remained cloaked in shadow. Mickey and Yen Sid both believed that Xehanort had all thirteen, but was now biding his time until the thirteenth was strong enough to truly battle, much like they were doing with their training of Kairi and Lea as well as helping Terra and Ven regain their full strength. 

In the meantime though, they were extra vigilant went out on missions. Roxas, Namine, and Xion were not allowed to leave the tower at all unless Riku, Aqua, or Sora was with them. Mickey feared that Xehanort had shown unusual interest in Roxas due to his strange nobody state, and didn’t want the older master to become tempted by Xion and Namine. 

However, no training in the world could have prepared Lea for how the battle really began.

Mostly because it involved him getting kidnapped. 

The irony. 

He struggled against his captors, even as they shoved him to the dust and rocks of the Keyblade Graveyard, not far from where they had fought the organization just a few months prior. 

They had caught Lea while he was visiting the other apprentices at Radiant Garden. Ienzo was keeping Lea updated on the research Yen Sid wanted them to complete. Sora and Riku had both come with him, but had left the castle to visit Leon and Cloud. 

Lea and Ienzo had just finished talking when a portal opened right behind Lea and a pair of arms tugged him backwards. He barely had time to summon his keyblade, much less fight back before he was pulled through to another location where the other organization members were waiting. 

“I don’t know why you want me, old man...” Lea muttered, lifting his head in what he hoped was a defiant gesture, “I’ve been told more than once by your organization that I was useless.”

Xehanort scoffed, “As a keyblade wielder, yes, you are extraordinarily average. But as someone whom many of the guardians rely on, you are quite valuable.” He waved his hand towards his group. 

Lea took a quick headcount and then cursed under his breath. The old coot really did have thirteen. Not all wore their hoods. He saw Xigbar smirking at him, while Saïx’s face was impassive. The armored version of Xehanort was hovering in the back, while the two shorter ones were off the the side.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lea stated, sitting back on his heels. His hands were still tied behind his back, and his shoulders were starting to ache. “As you said, I’m useless as a guardian of light. Why would they come after me?”

Xehanort denied further answer just stared out at the horizon. 

Lea really hoped that the crotchety old man wasn’t right. There was no reason for the others to come after the useless redhead. Xehanort and his twelve twinsies would realize that eventually and just get rid of their extra baggage before taking the fight to the guardians directly. 

He just wished he could have seen Roxas again. 

Suddenly, there was a gateway opening in the distance. In the light shining from the portal, Lea could just make out a spiky head of hair.

Of course. Sora would have felt responsible if Lea disappeared. Not to mention, he probably didn’t want to go back to Roxas and tell him that Lea had gotten kidnapped on his watch. 

But it wasn’t just Sora who came through. After the sparky haired brunet arrived on his glider, Riku was close behind on his keyblade motorbike, Kairi seated behind him. Soon the others arrived as well, Aqua, Ven and Terra landing gracefully on the ground after dismounting their gliders. Mickey arrived last, coming the the front as the rest formed a line behind him. All glowed slightly as they summoned their armor. 

“There’s still time to end this Xehanort,” Mickey called out, his own armor glinting in the harsh sunlight. 

“I think not,” Xehanort drawled. “This is the fated day, so why put off destiny any longer?” 

With a flick of his hand, several of his seekers of darkness entered the battle. One of the figures headed straight for Riku, the one Lea had heard the others call “Ansem” (not to be confused with the oldish and slightly confused mentor Mickey had pulled out of the realm of darkness just weeks prior.) Xemnas zeroed in on Sora at first before Terra stepped in and engaged the man in battle instead. 

Sora instead faced off against two of the still hooded figures. Ven and Aqua took another three, while Mickey took on the Master himself. 

Lea thought the battle more than a little unfair. Several of the seekers were just sitting around, waiting for one of their own to stumble before taking their place, while the guardians of light had to keep fighting. With so many focused on the battle unfolding though, no one was watching Lea that closely, and he began to struggle against his bonds. 

“Need help?” a voice behind him said. Lea turned around and saw Terra giving him a small smile. 

“Well, if you don’t mind...” Lea held his hands out as far from his body as he could while Terra slice through the chains with his massive keyblade. Lea groaned and stretched. “Why the hell did you guys come after me?”

“We were only delaying the inevitable,” Terra stated, quickly blocking an incoming attack. Together they tried to run towards where a group of guardians had gathered. Aqua was standing on a pillar above it all trying to defend herself and heal where she could. “Better to help a friend than keep sitting back.”

Lea sighed, “Right. I forget how noble you all are.”

Terra let out a surprised laugh, “Don’t you mean ‘we all are?’ You’re one of us too...” 

Lea blinked, “Oh... well... I guess.” Lea summoned his keyblade as they ran, helping Terra defend against the oncoming attackers. “What about Roxas? Is he safe?”

Terra nodded, practically throwing his attacker off and into a wall. “We left him, Namine, and Xion back at the tower under the protection of Donald and Goofy.”

Lea nodded. At least Roxas was safe. 

They were just about to reach Ven where he was facing off against one of the shorter organization members when one of the hooded figures blocked their path. 

Though he kept his hood up, his identity wasn’t hidden for long when he pulled out a sitar. 

“What the-” Terra muttered. He swung but a wall of water stopped his keyblade. “What the--”

“Yeah, that isn’t going to work on this one,” Lea muttered, his keyblade coming up in preparation. 

Soon enough, the wall of water formed clones of the figure they were trying to fight. Lea couldn’t help but let out a smirk. 

“Seriously, Demyx?” 

Flames erupted from Lea’s keyblade in a particularly strong fire spell he had just learned how to master. The flame wrapped around each clone, turning them all to steam. No matter the number of clones Demyx produced, Lea could keep his fire magic going all day, until a cloud of steam surrounded them, the air thick with fog. It was getting hard to see Demyx, which was fine with Lea as it meant that it was getting hard for Demyx to see him. 

Or Terra. 

Terra used the opening to slam his keyblade into Demyx’s unprotected back and the blonde went flying. He landed on the hard ground and did not get up. 

“That was easy...” Terra trailed off uncertainty.

“Demyx was never the most adept fighter once you got used to his strategy,” Lea muttered, walking over to the figure and pulling down his hood to make sure it was him. “He always preferred to let others fight for him, like those water clones.” 

“Bad strategy to face off against you then,” Terra offered a grin, which Lea returned.

“Yeah, no kidding.”

There was a slight yell of pain from Sora. When Lea turned, he saw Xemnas going in for another attack that was quickly blocked my Mickey while Riku healed Sora. 

Aqua had left her perch above the field and was now engaging the armored version of Xehanort. Terra rushed to her side while Lea turned to see if he could help Kairi or Ven. Kairi was fighting another still hooded figure while Ven seemed to have gained the upper hand over his, smacking the hooded figure into the dirt. 

Lea figured Ven could finish his own battle and ran to help Kairi. As he passed Ven’s fallen opponent though, he saw that the figures hood had fallen, revealing some sort of mask underneath.

“So, going to finish me off then, Ventus?”

It was just a boy, probably no older than Ven, if that. Lea could also tell that the figure was weakened, barely making any movement to recover. The figure’s whole body shook as he started coughing, turning to his side and groaning with the effort to move. Lea hesitated for a moment, wondering what Ven was going to do. 

Lea heard Ven let out a deep sigh of resignation. 

“If you know what’s good for you, just keep lying there. I’ll come back for you later.”

With that, Ven ran off in the same direction as Aqua and Terra, meeting Lea’s eyes for just a second before focusing on his new target instead. 

A cry of pain of Kairi and Lea remembered his original intention. He started his trek back towards Kairi before yet another figure blocked his path. 

“You aren’t meant to be here, Lea. Run along home,” Saïx called his claymore, preparing for a berserker attack. 

“Yeah well, you know. Never listened very well to you before, so I’m not going to start now,” Lea readied his keyblade. 

Saïx started out fast, and it was all Lea could do to dodge and defend. He couldn’t get close enough to do a fire spell, and Saïx moved too fast to try targeting him. 

He got lucky when another hooded figure slammed into Saïx, knocking him out of his berserker mode. The other hooded figure did not get up, apparently knocked out by one of Aqua’s exploding barriers. A quick glance down revealed white hair and a youthful face. The youngest Xehanort twin then. 

By Lea’s count, that was at least three down, only ten to go. 

Saïx recovered and lifted his claymore again. Without that excess energy, his movements were slow, but no less powerful. Lea managed to land a few hits, causing Saïx to stumble back before recovering, landing a few of his own. 

Lea grunted as a particularly strong hit sent him flying. As he landed, he saw Aqua and Ven leaving the weakened armored opponent to Terra while they went after the other hooded figures. The Ansem who was not Ansem the Wise was laying in the dirt, Riku having apparently knocked him out for good. Lea didn’t see Xemnas anywhere and hoped that meant that Sora had taken care of him. Lea didn’t see the oldest Xehanort either and wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Sensing motion behind him, Lea rolled, bringing his keyblade up to guard against Saïx’s next attack. He was pinned now though, and couldn't move. Saïx stepped on one of his knees, putting enough weight on it to nearly break it if Lea moved to much. 

Saïx pressed harder and Lea scrambled to figure out something. Suddenly, his grip slipped. With a clang, his keyblade went flying. Lea tried to reach out for it, to catch it, but it was too far away, and not responding. Lea growled stretching out even as Saïx lifted his weapon for another blow. 

“If something happens to your keyblade, you got a pretty good back up!”

Well... Sora was on to something there. Lea quickly summoned his chakrams and deflected the incoming blow. Saïx’s claymore buried itself in the dirt next to Lea’s head and he grimaced at the sound it made as it hit the ground. Quickly he rolled, wincing at the pain in his knee. 

“Heal!” a female voice shouted. Lea turned, expecting to see Kairi. 

Instead, he saw Xion and Roxas running towards him. Roxas’s face hardened for a moment and the threw his keyblade. Lea turned and saw it knock squarely into Saïx’s chest, throwing him back a few feet. 

Without missing a beat, Roxas scooped up Lea’s own keyblade and tossed it to the redhead, calling his own back. 

Lea dropped one chakram to catch the blade, keeping the other chakram nearby just in case. “You’re not supposed to be here!” 

“You were kidnapped!” Xion shouted, casting a barrier to block Saïx’s next attack. 

“We weren’t just going to sit around,” Roxas muttered when he got close enough. “I don’t know why they left us behind.”

“To protect you guys!” Lea shouted, dodging an incoming attack from another hooded figure, throwing his chakram at him as a distraction before sending three fire blasts in the figures’ direction. “Xehanort was clearly after you.”

“Well, he seems a little distracted now,” Xion stated, struggling holding a guard against Saïx. Lea ran in and kicked the blue haired man off of Xion, helping the girl up. 

“At least Namine listened to directions,” Lea muttered as Xion got back to her feet. 

“Oh, she helped us navigate the gummi ship,” Roxas stated, smiling smugly, even as he clashed with the hooded figure. 

“Of course she did,” Lea muttered. “Don’t tell me you left that duck and dog behind?”

“Of course not,” Roxas’s smile dimmed as he shot a fireball at an incoming attacker. “They’re off helping Mickey somewhere...” He trailed off and reengaged in the battle. Lea followed his lead. 

Together, the three managed to take out the hooded figure, Roxas knocking the figure to the ground and slamming his keyblade against his skull. When the hood came off, it was more silver hair, but Lea couldn’t say he recognized the man underneath the hood. Perhaps another version of Xehanort from the past. 

“Xion!”

Lea heard Roxas shout. When he turned, he saw the blonde pushing Xion out of the way as he took a blow from Saïx’s claymore. 

“Roxas!”

Xion caught the blonde before he fell, quickly uttering a cure spell, but Lea didn’t pay attention to that, instead focusing on Saïx. The redhead let out a deep growl before rushing in to attack the blue haired man. 

Lea wondered if this was how Saïx felt when he was in his berserker mode. The energy to attack was non-stop, and his vision was focused solely on Saïx. The redhead used both Keyblade and chakram in battle, both useful in blocking Saïx’s heavy attacks. He knew Saïx was hitting him on occasion, but he didn’t feel the pain, just kept attacking until the blue-haired man was in the dirt. 

With one last blow, Saïx was unconscious. Lea kicked his claymore away just in case. 

Then he ran over to where Roxas was recovering. 

“I’m fine,” the blonde muttered, even before Lea patted him all over to check for injuries. 

“Shut up, you just took a blow to the back,” Lea stated, still checking for broken bones. 

Xion’s cure spell must have healed the worst of it for it seemed like Roxas was more bruised. 

Lea glanced around, relieved to see more fallen in black robes while their side was damaged and bruised but still fighting. 

“SORA!” 

Lea’s head turned so fast at the shout, he felt something crack, but he couldn’t focus on that right now. 

Sora was blocking an attack from Xemnas, but his back was unguarded.

Lea could only watch as Riku took the hit aimed at Sora, the oldest version of Xehanort slicing through his armor. Lea could hear the crunch of bone snapping even from where he was. The silver haired boy was thrown back into the side of a clif before falling in a heap at the base. As soon as Riku hit the wall, Xemnas backed off, smirking at the shocked expression on Sora’s face as the brunet had turned around just in time to see Riku take the hit. 

Lea couldn’t see where Mickey was, but Aqua quickly engaged Xemnas’s attention instead, Ven not far behind battling the opponent Riku had been fighting before he saved Sora.

But the brunet was not paying attention to any of that. For once, Sora was still. Even as Kairi shouted out Riku’s name and raced her way towards him, Sora stood completely motionless. Lea could just imagine his eyes wide with shock at Riku taking the blow for him. He knew fear that Sora felt; that his friend, his love might be dead. 

Xehanort must have sensed that his prey was paralyzed, for he took his time stalking up to Sora. Kairi shouted out in pain, having been knocked back from helping Riku by a laughing Xigbar. Lea struggled to his feet, but quickly collapsed again, not having recovered his energy from his own battle. 

“Heal!” Xion stated, looking a little weak from using so many cure spells in a row, but she stood anyway. 

Lea felt a little more recovered and Roxas could stand now without collapsing, in pain, but able to move. 

“Right...” Roxas turned to look at where Riku still laid on the ground. Lea didn’t think the silver haired man moved at all. Kairi still battled Xigbar, struggling a bit against his gunshots. “I’ll go--”

“I’ll go help Kairi,” Xion stated, summoning her keyblade, “You guys go knock some sense into Sora! He needs to snap out of it” She ran off.

Lea shifted his gaze and saw that, like Riku, Sora had not yet moved from his spot, even as Master Xehanort and his other versions closed in. Terra was battling the armored version, while Aqua and Ven were facing off with their opponents. Quickly, Roxas helped Lea up and they raced over to Sora’s side. 

“Sora! Snap out of it!” Roxas shouted, drawing the ire of some of the approaching figures. He casted a quick reflect as some aimed projectiles at them.

Sora finally managed to tear his gaze away from his fallen boyfriend to look at them. His eyes were glowing bright yellow and a dark energy began to radiate from him. 

“Dammit!” Roxas summoned his keyblade and threw it. The keyblade spun through the air, managing to knock into Sora. The brunet flew back a few feet, just as one of the figures brought his blade down right where Sora had been standing. 

“Don’t give into that crap now. You really think Riku would have saved you for that?!” Roxas shouted. 

Sora shook his head for a moment, before he stood up, taking Roxas’s second keyblade with him. When he opened his eyes, they were blue again, but shining brighter than before. The desert air around him seemed to pick up, the desert dust swirling around Sora like a tornado. The brunet’s hands clenched around both keyblades as his mouth opened, letting out a scream of defiance. 

Lea felt his heart drop at the sound of it. All of Sora’s despair as well as his hope was in that sound. 

Without realizing it, Lea had reached out to take Roxas’s hand as Sora’s whole being began to glow, light emanating from him. 

“Look out!” Lea heard Mickey cry out. He turned to find the mouse running up to them, Donald and Goofy not far behind. 

“What’s going on?” Lea questioned. 

“I think Xehanort’s wish is coming true. This clash has drawn out the [chi]-blade,” Mickey said solemnly. 

“But Sora--” Goofy started to say, but was cut off as Sora launched himself at Master Xehanort. 

The older man dodged Sora’s attacks easily at first, but it became clear quickly that Sora was overwhelming him. 

“What’s going on?!” Terra asked as he ran up to them, having dispatched the armored version of Xehanort. 

“Sora... he’s just...” Lea couldn’t really describe it. 

Sora had somehow transcended the skills of the average keyblade master. He moved faster than Lea could really keep track of, and even though all the versions of Xehanort that were left had started helping the old guy, Sora kept them all back with ease. 

“Aqua!” 

Lea turned away from the battle as Kairi waved over the blue haired master over. Together, Kairi and Xion had managed to permanently take down Xigbar. The Nobody was face down in the dust, his guns broken and useless. Lea only spared a moment to wonder if he was dead. 

Aqua changed direction, heading towards Riku and the girls. Ven continued to run up to the rest of them. 

“What’s going on? What’s with Sora?”

“Dunno,” Roxas replied, “Once I knocked him out of going into Anti-Form, he did that instead.” 

“It looks like...” Ven trailed off.

“Is this what it was like before?” Terra questioned, “When you and Vanitas joined?”

“I’m not sure... I don’t think so. This is different.”

Though they all had their keyblades out, Lea felt they were pretty superfluous as Sora knocked out each true Organization member one by one, until it was just him and the old original left. 

“Yes, Sora!” Xehanort cried out, “Form the [chi]-blade.” 

In the space between Sora and Xehanort, a door began to form. An enormous pair of white doors, with a rainbow of stained glass decoration. 

“Kingdom Hearts!” Mickey exclaimed. 

Lea had never seen the actual doors before. Was this really what Xemnas had been after back then? It seemed a little...

Underwhelming...

_“It won’t work.”_

Lea blinked, realizing that this was the first sentence Sora had spoken since Riku had fallen.

It didn’t sound like him. 

_“What you want. It won’t work,”_ Sora repeated, his voice deep and echoing around them. 

“That’s not...” Roxas trailed off, squeezing Lea’s hand hard. Lea squeezed back before untangling their fingers to wrap his whole body around Roxas instead. “That’s not Sora,” Roxas finished. 

“I think... I think Kingdom Hearts is talking through him,” Mickey theorized. 

“You mean that thing is alive?!” Lea shouted. 

No one answered him as Sora’s keyblades disappeared. The next time Sora reached his hand out, a different sort of keyblade appeared in his hand. The hilt was formed by two kingdom keys fused together, their blades crossing in the middle, with a long sword type blade extending from them. 

“The [chi]-blade,” Ventus whispered. 

_“If this is what you want, then have it,”_ Sora, or the being possessing Sora, thrust the blade at Xehanort. A light burst forth and seemed to anchor Xehanort where he stood. 

The doors opened. 

Light poured out of the small opening, engulfing both Sora and Xehanort. From where Xehanort had been standing, dark waves of energy began to rise the like steam. 

It wasn’t just the old man. As Lea glanced around the battlefield, he saw similar clouds of dark steam rising from wherever there was a fallen Organization member. As the darkness wafed off of them, some of the figures disappeared, like the Young Xehanort, and the armored version. Others remained. 

Lea turned back to where Saïx lay. 

“C’mon,” Roxas grabbed Lea’s arm and together they walked over to Saïx’s prone figure. Lea was pretty sure he just knocked him out, not killed him. He didn’t fade like a nobody. 

Slowly, the waves of darkness faded and Lea gently rolled his former friend over. His eyes were still closed but now Lea could see that he was, indeed, breathing. 

He returned his attention to the door. The light was burning off every trace of darkness that Xehanort had spread into his vessels. Most had faded away, back into their own timelines. Most of the ones that remained were either face down in the dirt, or had their hoods pulled up. Lea wondered about them. Were they former Nobodies, now back in their rightful bodies? Or were they something else. 

Eventually the light faded. Lea could see that the spot Master Xehanort had been standing was now empty. 

“Maybe... there was nothing left of him but darkness,” Roxas guessed. 

“Yeah... maybe...” Lea didn’t really care as long as it was over. 

Slowly, the door faded from existence, and the glow from Sora began to recede, until he was just a young man standing in the desert, triumphant but exhausted. 

When Lea checked back with the girls and Riku, he found them all staring at Sora with the same sort of awe. Riku had been moved so that he was no longer face down in the dirt, but sitting against the cliff. From this distance, Lea couldn’t tell if the silver haired boy’s eyes were open or not. 

“Riku!” Sora cried out, his hand reaching for the other, seeming to notice the [chi]-blade for the first time. He looked at the blade in his hand for a brief moment before slamming it into the ground, the blade becoming buried halfway up the length. Then he started running towards his boyfriend, shedding his armor as he went. “Riku!” 

Sora collapsed next to the silver haired boy, talking quickly with Aqua and Kairi before gently pulling Riku’s body onto his back and carrying him in the direction of the others, Kairi following close behind. 

“Lea! He’s waking up!” 

Lea glanced back and saw that Saïx was indeed stirring. “Hey...” Lea was cautious, not wanting to go another round with this guy if he was still Saïx. 

“Lea?” Saïx murmured. Slowly his eyes opened and Lea felt relief flood through him. His eyes were the dark blue of their youth instead of Xehanort’s bright amber.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty!” Lea exclaimed.

“Forget my name already?” Isa huffed, “So lame.” 

“Shut up...” Lea chuckled, “It’s been a while...”

He helped his friend sit up. He heard footsteps rush up and he looked up to see Terra looming over them, blocking the harsh sun. “Everything okay here?”

The redhead nodded, “Yeah... He’s back to normal...”

Terra grinned, “That’s great! Ven and I are checking whoever’s left to make sure...”

“Yeah... Whatever Sora did, I think it burned Xehanort’s influence out of them,” Roxas stated, helping Isa drink a potion he had in his pocket. 

“Right. Ven and I did a head count. We think that those that are left were just vessels that Xehanort acquired. The ones that disappeared were past versions of himself.”

“Xigbar was one,” Isa muttered, “Demyx was another? I’m not sure, they kept their hoods up.” He grimaced, “I think there may have been one or two around Sora’s age.”

Terra let out a sound of confirmation, “Yeah... we noticed there were a few like that.” He waved at them, “I’ll go check on the others, but make your way to the gummiship Namine and the others brought as soon as you can. I don’t think any of us want to stick around if we don’t have to.” He ran off towards one of the other figures that were lying in the dust. 

Lea heard the roar of a gummiship engine behind him. Turning, he saw the Highwind gummiship making a landing nearby, Namine barely visible in the pilot’s seat. Sora and Kairi ran towards it, Riku still unconscious on Sora’s back. Aqua was helping another hooded figure stumble over there as well. 

Roxas and Lea helped Isa towards where Sora and Kairi had laid Riku back down. They sat Isa down next to them.

“How is he?” Roxas asked, as Sora took a hold of Riku’s hand and held on tight. 

“He’s been drifting in and out,” Kairi replied. “He was awake for the whole light show, but he fell unconscious shortly afterwards. Aqua and I managed to stop the bleeding, but we’re not sure if anything else was injured until he can wake up.”

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Sora muttered, mostly to himself, “I would have been fine...”

“He’s Riku,” Kairi consoled him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “He would have done the same for any of us.”

“But, he--” Sora sniffed back tears, wiping them away with his other hand. 

“He’ll be okay, Sora,” Roxas wrapped an arm around the brunet as well. “He’s kind of indestructible.”

“No, he’s not,” Sora huffed, but Lea could see a hint of a smile coming back to his face. 

“Hey! Over hear!” Lea heard Ven shout. He looked over and saw Ven struggling to carry one of the left over hooded figures. 

“Go, help him. I’m fine,” Isa stated, pushing him away. Lea nodded and took off running, Aqua not far behind.

“Aqua! I think he’s hurt pretty bad!” Ven called out. Lea reached him, having been closer and he helped Ven carry the still hooded figure closer to where the others were gathering. 

“Who-” Aqua began to ask but then shook her head, “Never mind, carry him over to the others. Kairi and I are going to cast one big Curaga over everyone to hopefully help with the worst of it.” She ran further back to help Terra with another one of the figures. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were helping another back to their feet. 

Lea tried to move faster, eager to return to Roxas’s side. The figure wasn’t heavy, but the battle had exhausted both Lea and Ven. As they made their way over, the figure’s hood slipped off, and Lea nearly dropped the boy in shock. 

The figure had Sora’s hair. 

The same gravity defying spikes of hair, only colored the same shade as a shadow heartless. Around the boy’s chin, Lea thought he could make out the faint outline of the bottom of the mask of the figure Ven had been fighting. 

The masked keyblade wielder?

“I know! It’s weird!” Ven huffed after he caught Lea staring, “It’s a long story, but c’mon!” He pulled the boy in the direction of the Gummiship, Lea hurrying to catch up so the boy didn’t fall. 

Together, they laid the figure down carefully, then Lea took a seat between Roxas and Isa, wrapping an arm around the blonde and pulling him close. 

“I’m fine, you’re worrying for nothing,” Roxas muttered, even as he leaned closer. 

“I’ll worry all I want,” Lea huffed back, kissing the top of Roxas’s head gently, “Got it memorized?” 

He felt Roxas smile against his collarbone. 

“Still taking in lost puppies...” Isa muttered, his eyes closed but a smile on his face, “You never change.”

Lea huffed and laid a hand on Isa’s shoulder as well. “I’m glad your back.”

“Me too...” 

After a moment, Lea became aware of another presence approaching them. Aqua, Terra, and Ven as well as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were still of checking and binding the remaining seekers of darkness. Though he didn’t think he could start another battle, he did call his keyblade forth in preparation to defend his friends.

As the figure stumbled closer, Lea finally recognized their stance and weapon choice, “Demyx?”

The blonde let down his hood, “Hey Axel!” He let out a nervous chuckle. 

Lea huffed, a grin making its way across his face, “It’s Lea now. Got it memorized?”

“Lea huh?” Demyx sat down on Isa’s other side. “So... Saix is...?”

“Isa,” the blue haired man responded, “An you?”

After a long moment, Demyx shrugged, “Dunno... Honestly, I can’t remember anything before becoming a nobody. I really can’t remember anything after the creepy old guy shoved his keyblade at me.”

“You don’t have your memories at all?” Roxas stated, looking close at Demyx. Even Xion seemed disturbed at that. 

“Nope! Though, I do remember you! Nice you see you again Roxas!” Demyx turned to Xion sitting next to them, “And...um...”

“Xion,” the black haired girl smiled, “I don’t think you recognize me, but you helped us out a lot on missions.”

“I did?” Demyx looked confused for a second before shrugging it off, “Okay, then.”

“Doesn’t it bother you not to have your memories?” Roxas wondered. 

Lea could get why he was worried on Demyx’s behalf. He still had nightmares of Roxas looking at him without a spark of recognition in his eyes. 

“Nah...” Demyx shrugged, “I dunno... I guess I’m just not that worried about it.”

“All the same...” Lea murmured, mostly to himself. “We better make sure that’s not a problem. Maybe Even and Ienzo would know?”

“Even and Ienzo?” Demyx blinked and tilted his head. 

“Vexen and Zexion,” Xion added. 

Zexion’s okay?!” Demyx nearly shouted, earning a glare and a shush from Kairi and Sora. He grinned sheepishly in apology and returned to a quieter voice, “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Lea said, confused by the blonde’s excitement, “They became people again at the same time I did.”

“That’s great!” Demyx’s grin was so large, it took up his whole face, “I can't’ wait to see Zexion again.”

Xion giggled, while Roxas just hummed in confusion. Lea thought he got it, but he wasn’t sure about his assumption, so he didn’t say anything. 

“Excuse me,” a voice above them said. Lea glanced up and saw Aqua hovering over them, hair a mess and more than a little bruised, but still very professional. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to bind you both.” he pointed towards Isa and Demyx. “It’s just a precaution until we can figure out if Xehanort still has influence over you.”

Lea glanced up to where Terra and Ven were escorting a bound Braig back to them. Lea wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the sharpshooter.

“Very well,” Isa agreed placing his hands in front of him to be bound. Demyx followed suit and Aqua placed the spell, walking away to do the same with the dark haired boy Ven and Lea had brought over. 

Lea watched as she rolled the boy over with some gentleness, hesitating only briefly at the wild dark hair. He watched her check briefly for injuries, her hands glowing with the healing green spell whenever she ran her hands over a particularly bruised area. 

She checked the boy’s eyes, lifting an eyelid gently. Suddenly, she jumped back, calling her keyblade to hand instantly. “Ven! Terra!”

Lea struggled to get up, calling on his own keyblade, watching as Sora and Kairi did the same, “What’s wrong?”

“His eyes are still yellow gold.”

“What’s up?” Ven huffed as he ran up, Terra not far behind. 

“It’s Vanitas,” Aqua stated, glaring at the boy on the ground. “His eyes are still gold. He’s still under Xehanort’s influence.”

Ven glanced up at her before cautiously approaching the boy, kneeling down to check himself. “I don’t think so. I think his eyes are just naturally like that?”

“What do you mean, Ven?”

“Well... sometimes while I slept in Sora’s heart, I would dream. And sometimes I think it was Vanitas’s dreams.” The blonde let out a shudder, only stopping once Terra came over and laid a hand on his shoulder. “It was horrible. He was so scared, all the time. He didn’t even really have a face at fist, not till I connected with Sora’s heart.”

“Is that why he looks like me?” Sora asked, glancing down at the boy in confusion, “I had wondered.” The brunet patted down a spike of hair absently. 

“I think so,” Ven agreed, “But I also think that’s why he has black hair and gold eyes. Since he’s meant to represent my darkness...”

“So like a heartless,” Kairi guessed, also coming over to stare at the boy, “They all have gold yellow eyes.”

Lea glanced back at the boy, suddenly not sure what to make of him. 

“We’ll bind him and take him with us,” Terra finally decided. “We can discuss what to do with him later.”

As a group, they nodded in agreement then resumed their seats to wait for some kind of direction on what to do next. Sora pulled Riku gently into his lap, the silver haired boy unconscious, but breathing. Lea thought he could make out a small smile from where Riku’s face was buried in Sora’s chest. Kairi leaning against the brunet’s side, her eyes closed and a small smile on her own face. 

As soon as Lea sat back down, Roxas crawled up into his lap. Absently, Lea wrapped his arms around the blonde. Xion sat next to them, leaning into the redhead’s side and clutching onto his elbow while her other hand grabbed Roxas’s coat gently.

Lea looked over to Demyx and Isa, sharing a small smile with them. 

He wasn’t sure what the future would hold, but for now, he had all he wanted right here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... *ducks head out from behind couch* So.... I have mentioned that I'm terrible at writing action scenes, so I hope this final battle wasn't too confusing... or dumb. I may have jumped the shark a bit at the whole "Kingdom Hearts talking through Sora" bit, but... eh... I think it could happen? Maybe? ish? We still don't really understand what Kingdom Hearts is so...??
> 
> So some headcannons I have for this series that didn't quite make it into this part and don't fit into the next part:
> 
> 1) Braig lives! As one of the vessels who went along with Xehanort willingly (Terra and Isa are able to prove this through their memories of their interactions with both Braig and Xigbar both past and present) Braig is put on... trail? (how does the court system work in Kingdom Hearts??) and is put in... whatever Radiant Garden's equivalent to jail is. Maybe Braig is thrown into the brig? (haha)
> 
> 2) Demyx goes to stay with Ienzo and Even while they work on seeing why Demyx lost his memory and how to regain it. Demyx is thrilled with this predicament and doesn't really care if his memory comes back or not (I don't really have a good reason why Demyx lost his memory, I just didn't want to try to figure out his somebody name because I'd probably get it dead wrong... demy? Dyme? Myde? Emdy? There are just so many combinations!! And all of them could be possibilities given Square and their hipster names)
> 
> 3) Lea taught Namine how to pilot the gummiship. She was feeling useless because she can't even make dark portals anymore, so Lea took her out flying with Sora's assistance. Namine ends up being the best pilot. 
> 
> 4) This part is mentioned in a throw away line, but I couldn't figure out how to get a whole scene in there, but yes. Mickey managed to find Ansem the Wise in the realm of darkness and bring him back. I'm still now sure how this happens, considering that Mickey never has an exit strategy when he does anything, but it happened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter begins immediately after "Settling the Aftershocks."

Lea woke, finding Xion still snuggled into his side, causing his arm to fall asleep. His other arm was wrapped tightly around Roxas and he pulled the blonde in tighter to give him a light kiss on the forehead, ignoring the blonde’s sleepy protests. Roxas just adjusted to a more comfortable position, curling his hand tighter into Lea’s shirt and drifting back off into a deeper sleep. 

Lea felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight, so happy that he could finally have this for as long as Roxas chose to remain at his side. The redhead could only hope that it would be as long as Lea wanted it to last: forever. 

Faintly, he felt another pressure on his thigh and he glanced down as carefully as he could without disturbing his two cuddle partners. He saw a glance of long blue hair and he relaxed. Isa must have come down for his morning coffee and decided to join in on the cuddle party instead. 

Or he tripped trying to step over them all on his way to the coffee. 

He heard voices to his left and he turned his head to find Terra conversing quietly with Aqua, Ven still asleep in Terra’s lap. Next to him, the angry black haired boy they had dragged off the battlefield was curled up in Aqua’s lap, her hand running through his dark hair absently. He looked less angry and a bit more like Sora when asleep.

“Morning, Lea.”

Lea shifted his gaze up, finding Aqua smiling at him. “Morning,” he replied, yawning a little before shifting to sit up. Xion and Roxas both rolled to the floor, Roxas at an awkward angle as he still held on tight to Lea’s shirt. Xion blinked sleepily before waking up as well. 

Slowly, everyone else began to wake up as well. Riku carefully untangled his hair from Sora’s death grip before trying to wake up his boyfriend. 

Lea grinned and began to poke at Isa’s face which was still resting on his thigh. “Good morning, Moonshine! The Sun says hello!” He continued poking for a moment longer before Isa’s hand shot up and grasped Lea’s in a death grip. 

“I’m awake, loser.” 

Lea chuckled nervously as Isa tightened his grip enough to nearly break his fingers. “Yeah, yeah. Can you let go now?”

Isa glared for a moment longer before letting go. Lea shook the feeling back into this hand while Xion giggled. The sound caused Roxas to jerk awake and he rubbed at his eyes. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Isa is still a little scary,” Xion confided, hiding her smile behind her hand, “At least, he is to Lea.”

“Nothing new there then,” Roxas retorted. Lea stuck out his tongue before poking Roxas in the face, causing the blonde to start giggling. 

“Let go of me, woman!”

Lea’s head shot over at the sudden outburst from the other side of the room. The angry black haired boy was trying to scramble away from Aqua, who was equally trying to disentangle her hand from his hair. As soon as he was free, the boy shot away, standing quickly and glaring at all of them. After a moment, he huffed and ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Within moments, they heard a distant door slam. 

“What was that about?” Roxas wondered. 

Lea shrugged. He thought, for a moment, that there were tears forming in the boy’s golden eyes, but he ran away too fast to really be sure. He noticed Aqua looking up the stairs with the same concern. 

\---

“You’re getting better at calling on your keyblade first rather than your chakrams,” Kairi stated as they made their way back to the kitchen for a quick lunch. 

Kairi was heading to Radiant Garden with Sora and Riku for the afternoon while Roxas and Xion were catching up on magic lessons with Aqua. Isa said that he needed the day to himself, probably nursing a headache, so Lea would be more or less left alone. 

He tried to not let it bother him. 

“Yeah, it’s been getting easier since that day in Radiant Garden,” he agreed, handing her a sandwich while placing his own on the counter. He reached out to call his keyblade again, still marveling at how easy it came to him. 

Kairi laughed, “Who’d have guessed you’d go from kidnapper to keyblade wielder.”

“Keyblade master!” Lea corrected with a grin, “Well.... soon enough.”

Kairi laughed again before waving to go change for her trip, taking her sandwich with her. 

Lea grinned before taking his own sandwich to the top of the tower, the best place to view the never changing sunrise. 

“How did you do it?”

Lea had just taken a bite of his sandwich and nearly choked at the sudden voice. He coughed and turned, seeing the black haired boy hovering at the doorway. Lea frowned, but waved the boy over, taking another bite of sandwich. 

“Did what?”

“Get them to like you?”

Lea smirked, “Well, I have a likable personality, you see...”

“The redhead called you a kidnapper.” The voice was soft, and unsure. So unlike every other tone Lea had heard the boy use. 

Lea sighed and motioned for the boy to sit down. After a moment’s hesitation, he did. Lea resisted a smile at seeing Roxas’s old shoes on the boy’s feet. The boy’s hands started out resting beside him, but soon started fiddling with the zipper end on Sora’s borrowed coat. The boy’s whole wardrobe was a conglomeration of everyone else cast offs until someone could take the poor boy shopping. 

“Listen...” Lea trailed off, suddenly aware that he had, once again, forgotten a name. He figured in this situation it wouldn’t be appropriate to call him ‘definitely-not-Sora.’

After a huff, the boy filled in the blank, “...Vanitas.”

Lea grinned, “Listen, Vanitas. While part of it is having a natural likable personality, I can see that you don’t have one.”

“A likable personality?”

“Really just a personality...” Lea dodged the fist that headed for his face, “See, going around punching people is definitely a no no.” 

Vanitas huffed and crossed his arms, but still waited expectantly. 

“Another part is apologizing for past actions. Even if they weren’t really... you... in a way,” Lea finished. 

“I was more me when I did the worst things than when I was under Xehanort’s control, so I don’t have that excuse.”

“It’s not really an excuse...” Lea tried to find the words. “Look...sometimes experiences change us, for worse or for the better. But I can’t say that I’m the exactly the same Lea who existed before becoming a nobody, but I’m not exactly Axel either. I’m somewhere in the middle. I haven’t asked Isa, but I think he feels the same.”

“Isa?”

“The blue haired guy,” Lea clarified, “We brought him back same time we did you. You may have called him Saïx?”

“...oh yeah... he used to yell at me a lot,” Vanitas frowned at the memory. 

“Well, maybe he didn’t change that much,” Lea waved away that thought, “Point is, you’re not that person anymore, right?”

Vanitas stayed silent for so long, Lea wondered if he had said something wrong. Finally the boy shrugged. “Dunno... I don’t feel the need to destroy Ventus anymore... or anything really... but it’s not like I regretted that at the time.” 

Lea vaguely remembered Master Yen Sid saying that, much like Roxas, Vanitas would forever be an unusual being, having been born from someone else, but having now become their own person. And like Roxas, Vanitas now had both light and dark in his heart. Lea thought it sounded a little like when a nobody became their somebody again. 

The process hadn’t affect Lea that much, probably because he had stronger ties to his own heart towards the end, but he knew Even and Dilan had a harder time of it. 

“Do you regret it now?” Lea questioned, “Does that spark of light that exists in you now... does that regret your past actions?”

A scowl crossed Vanitas’s face. “It’s stupid. Why does it bother me so much?!”

Lea huffed, “Well... From what I understand you spent the past 13 years or so in Ven’s heart, which was held in Sora’s heart. Trust me, if there’s anyone who can make you feel guilty over things you didn’t think you needed to feel guilt over, it’s Sora. And he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.”

For a moment, Lea thought he saw a glimmer of a smile before it was hidden as Vanitas drew his legs up. 

“Yelling at people early in the morning doesn’t help either,” Lea commented, and Vanitas immediately bristled. 

After a moment of silence, Lea took a breath, “You know, if you want to start with apologies, I’d suggest Aqua. She seems to like you...”

“She just feels sorry for me...” Vanitas mumbled. 

“Well, when you’re not being a big ball of angry, you’re quite easy to pity.” Lea dodged the next punch. 

“Shut up!” Vanitas shouted, wrapping his arms around his knees again. “She called me freak once... I find it hard to believe that she’ll like me just cause she pities me.” The boy fidgeted with the hoodie strings, pulling them tighter, and fiddling the ends with his fingers. 

“You won’t know, unless you try.”

Vanitas was silent for a moment before he readjusted his hoodie one last time and got up, hiding his hands in his pockets and turning to leave. 

“Why come to me?” Lea wondered just as Vanitas reached the door. 

There was another long moment, but Lea was learning that, like Isa, Vanitas occasionally needed time to compose his response. Especially when it came to talking about feelings. Lea supposed it was a little easier when the boy’s emotions literally jumped out of him.

“Cause despite all that you did, they trust you,” Vanitas finally admitted, then left. 

Lea thought about that for a long time. 

Later, Lea found himself wandering to the kitchen, intent on starting on some sort of dinner when he stumbled across a conversation between Vanitas and Aqua. Lea quickly ducked behind the doorway when he realized what Vanitas was trying to do. 

“I’m sorry... for trying to kill you... and stuff...” 

Lea could barely hear the softly mumbled words, the last part said with some sort of false confidence. 

Aqua paused for a moment before replying. “Thank you, Vanitas. I’m not sure if I can forgive you quite yet for that, but I’m getting there.”

There was some more sounds of shuffling. Lea could picture the boy fidgeting with his hoodie strings again. 

“Was there something else?” Aqua asked. 

“About the other morning... I’m sorry for yelling at you too... I was just... scared for a moment...” Vanitas mumbled the last part. 

“I’m sorry if I did something that made you uncomfortable,” Aqua hurried to say. 

“Not exactly,” Vanitas huffed. When Lea glanced around the doorway, he saw the boy crossing his arms, a faint flush across his face. “I... I didn’t mind it all that much when I went to sleep, but in the morning... it just reminded me of something.”

“And it scared you?” Aqua clarified. 

“Yeah... The Mas-- Xehanort would pull on my hair when I wasn’t performing as well as he thought I should be.” The words were said so faintly, Lea had to struggle to hear. 

“Vanitas,” Aqua whispered softly. 

Lea watched as she hesitantly held a hand out projecting her intentions as best she could with Vanitas’s eyes focused on the floor. Once the boy figured out what she wanted to do, there was a moment of hesitation before he moved a little closer, allowing Aqua to run a hand gently through his hair. 

“So more like this?” Aqua asked, a smile on her face.

Vanitas nodded, stepping closer so Aqua didn’t have to reach as far. 

“I can’t guarantee that we’ll get it right the first time,” Aqua stated, still running her hand through his hair. “But I can guarantee that none of us will ever intend to hurt you like that.”

Lea watched the scene for a few moments, long enough to see the smile start to grow on the boy’s face. Then he left, deciding to see if Isa was ready to be bothered for the day. 

He knocked softly at the blue haired man’s door, entering when he heard the soft grunt of acknowledgement. 

“How’s the headache?” Lea whispered quietly, mindful of the darkened room. Isa had always preferred dark and quiet whenever he felt one of his major headaches coming on. 

“Better than earlier...” Isa let out a sigh from the bed. “It’s strange... I don’t remember getting headaches like this when I was a nobody, nor when I was under Xehanort’s control...”

“Maybe you did but just didn’t care about them?” Lea suggested, taking a seat on the only chair in the room. “You were certainly grumpy enough...”

“Hmm...maybe...” Isa let out another sigh and lightly tossed Lea a small bag filled with uncooked rice, “The warming charm on this wore off, can you renew it?”

“Yeah...” Lea easily performed the small magic required, heating the rice bag thoroughly before tossing it back to Isa who put it on the back of his neck. “How’s the ice pack charm doing?”

“It’s fine...” Isa muttered, “It’s going away, promise.”

“Okay...” Lea let out a sigh, “Can I keep you company?”

“What do you want?” 

“Man, I can’t even spend time with you without wanting something else?” Lea was hurt. A little bit. 

“You always want something...” Isa muttered. 

“Fine... you got me,” Lea sighed and pulled the chair closer so he could see Isa better. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally decided to just go for it. “What was it like under Xehanort’s control?”

Isa was quiet for a long moment, long enough for Lea to almost reconsider the question. “Odd...” he finally answered. “I guess... if I had to pick a word...”

“Well... I’ll let you pick more than one...” Lea muttered.

“How generous...” Isa let out another sigh, “It’s a bit hard to explain. I was under his influence for so long. Way back before Roxas joined the organization.”

Lea’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? That long?”

“... I kind of thought the eyes were a dead give away...”

“Oh yeah...” Lea shrugged after a moment, “I guess I figured that was just something that happened when you became a nobody.”

“...I’m not going to even point out the stupidity of that...”

Lea didn’t deny it, and just waited for Isa to continue. 

“Xemnas and Xigbar kept an eye on me while we were in the organization. I think I knew something was off on some level. While your personality started to return after a while, mine... it never felt like how it used to. Even when we were planning on our own how to get our hearts back, nothing felt right.”

“And then I met Roxas...” Lea trailed off. He knew that somewhere along that year was when he lost Isa for good.

“Yes... I think that’s why you were put in charge of his training,” Isa sat up on the bed, waving Lea off when he tried to help. “To give you something to do besides bother me.”

“And drive us further apart,” Lea finished.

“Yeah,” Isa shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

“Huh...oh...” Lea shrugged. “That new kid? Vanitas... He came to me around lunchtime to ask me about stuff...”

“He asked you for advice?” Isa huffed out a laugh, then winced and rubbed the back of his head, “Must have been desperate.” 

“Hey! I am excellent at giving advice!”

“Just not taking it...”

Lea stuck out his tongue, smiling when Isa grinned. “Anyway, he seems to have changed a lot. I was wondering how much of the previous attitude was Xehanort’s influence.”

Isa thought about it, “Well... I was put in charge of some of the younger and less experienced members of the seekers of darkness... that included Vanitas, and Demyx...” Isa paused for a second, “What happened to Demyx?”

“Oh... yeah... Terra kind of hit him a little harder than he intended. Once Xehanort’s influence left him, he had no memory of who he was before becoming Demyx. We left him with Ienzo and Even to see if they could get his memory back, but he seems pretty happy to be alive,” Lea huffed a laugh at the memory of Demyx waking up and just being excited that he wasn’t dead. 

Isa smiled, “That’s good. Xehanort was never really happy with Demyx. I think he would have preferred to have any other vessel. But Demyx was easy to manipulate to the darkness since he was terrified of dying,” He looked back at the beanbag in his hand, “They were always the troublemakers, Demyx because he never did anything unless forced, but Vanitas would always try to sneak off. Him and the other one.”

Lea blinked, “Hmm... other one?”

Isa shrugged, “Never saw his face. I think Vanitas did, on occasion, but I did catch a glimpse of silver hair once, so I thought he must have been one of Xehanort’s younger versions.”

“Hmm... maybe...” But Lea was fairly sure Xehanort’s youngest version was the one causing trouble in the dream worlds and he had never been shy about keeping the hood down. 

“You’ll have to ask him about the other one,” Isa elaborated, “If he’s going to talk about it.”

Lea nodded, “Right...” He then noticed Isa pulling at one of the long strands of hair by his face, “What’s wrong?”

“Hmmm... nothing...” Isa quickly let go of the hair and laid back down, setting the heat back behind his heck again. 

“Yeah, no, that’s not going to work,” Lea stated getting up so he could stand over Isa’s bed. He noticed the blue haired man pulling at his hair again, “Something wrong with your hair?”

“...it’s too long...” Isa muttered, pulling at it again. “I don’t understand why it’s so long. It didn’t bother me before, but now...”

Lea huffed out a laugh, “Now that I think about it, a lot of the organization members we knew about had long hair. Or at least a full head of it. Maybe that was an influence of Xehanort.” Lea then couldn’t help but full on giggle at the thought, “Maybe this whole thing started because Xehanort had a mid-life crisis about losing his hair.” 

Isa stared at him as if he were crazy, which Lea could understand, but then the blue haired man began to laugh. Even as he winced and rubbed his head, the giggles kept coming. “Worst joke ever!” he managed to choke out between the chuckles. 

Lea laughed a long, “C’mon think about it though. Poor guy is going a long, trying to figure out the secrets of the keyblade war, and then he starts losing his hair. It was probably the last straw.”

“He was jealous of Ansem the Wise maybe?” Isa added, still giggling, “Or even Yen Sid. He still has most of his hair.”

“Xehanort’s best friend still had all his hair, even after training Terra and Aqua,” Lea added. 

Isa laughed until he was doubled over on the bed, Lea chuckled alongside him. When Isa finally managed to take a few deep breaths, chuckling in between, he glanced over at Lea, brushing the long strands out of his face. 

“Well... you can cut it...” Lea stated, then smiled. “I know just the woman to help, too. I know for a fact they’ve been waiting to see you again!"

“Huh? Who?” Isa’s brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Nah, I’ll let it be a surprise,” Lea stated, already getting up so he could make plans. “You’ll be better by tomorrow right?”

“Uh... sure?” Isa stated, already laying back down on his heat pack. 

“Great!” Lea left with a grin and a promise to bring some soup by later. 

\--

“I’m not wearing that,” Vanitas grumbled, ignoring Sora’s pouting face. 

“Aww, c’mon! It’s funny!” Sora held up the shirt with the picture of a moogle on it closer to Vanitas, as if that would somehow convince him. 

“That’s why I’m not wearing it.” Vanitas huffed and ducked out from under Sora’s outstretched arm. 

“You did say you wanted a different look...” Ven offered, looking through the clothing racks near the window. 

“I said different idiot, not stupid...” Vanitas started, fiddling with the zipper of his borrowed hooded jacket while he looked at the t-shirts offered on the table. 

“What about this?” Roxas offered, holding up a similar hoodie but with longer sleeves and red accents. 

Lea watched in amusement as Vanitas’s eyes lit up and he snatched the jacket out of Roxas’s hand. He pulled a red shirt from nearby and tossed that to Vanitas as well. “Try this with it.”

Vanitas huffed but allowed himself to be pushed into the dressing room by Sora and Ven. 

“How’s it going?” Aqua asked as she entered the shop, another bag already under her arm. 

“Eh, pretty good,” Lea muttered, “I think Vanitas wishes he was an only child now though.”

The boys were now trying to coerce Vanitas to leave the changing room, much to the dark haired boy’s annoyance. 

“Well... could be worse...” Aqua murmured, joining the boys in convincing Vanitas to come back out. 

“True enough...” Lea murmured.

Outside the shop door, the marketplace was getting ready for the first spring festival since the world fell. Kairi and Namine were helping plant flowers while Xion was running errands with Tifa. Leon and Cloud had borrowed Terra and Riku as soon as they arrived to help with the last of the construction projects for the festival. Lea would meet up with Isa later after he got his Aerith finished his haircut. 

What had started as a simple trip to get Isa a hair cut and Vanitas new clothes had turned into a ‘family’ outing. It was a much needed break from the world clean up they’ve been doing since Xehanort’s defeat. 

“Lea?”

Lea jerked out of his half doze as Aqua spoke his name, “Huh?”

“Vanitas wants to talk to you...” She pointed over to wear the changing room door was still firmly shut. 

The redhead nodded and walked over, knocking gently on the door, “What’s the problem?”

He heard a huff before Vanitas unlocked the door. Lea slipped in. Vanitas was standing in the corner, the zipper of the new hoodie pulled all the way up. 

“I like it... but...”Slowly, he undid the zipper. 

Lea tried not to let the shock show. The shirt was a v-cut, which was the current style, but he could see why Vanitas would be uncomfortable. Crisscrossing around Vanitas’s neck and throat were several thin scars. 

Vanitas immediately went to cover them once he noticed Lea staring. “They don’t hurt or anything now...”

Lea remembered what Vanitas had said about Aqua pitying him. She had healed everyone individually after the battle, and it was likely she had seen these scars, if not others if the way Vanitas kept pulling at his sleeves was any indication. 

“We can get a shirt with a higher collar, like what Cloud wears...” Lea trailed off when Vanitas shook his head.

“I don’t want to hide them like that... but...” Vanitas trailed off. 

“Uh huh...” Lea thought he understood. Vanitas wasn’t ashamed of the scars, but he also didn’t want anyone to pity him like Aqua had. The redhead thought for a second. “Wait... chill here for a sec.”

He ducked out of the room and waved away all the questioning blue eyes. He spotted what he was looking for on a nearby table and brought it back to the dressing room. 

“Here,” Lea took out the long piece of fabric he had grabbed. It was black with red stripes criscrossing across it. He folded the fabric into a triangle and draped it around the darker haired boy’s neck. “I wore something like this when I was...well... it’s been a while.” Lea wasn’t sure how old he was now with the whole nobody thing, and he didn’t want to over too much think it since he was dating Roxas. 

Vanitas studied the look in the mirror. With the black jeans and shoes he had grabbed earlier, the outfit looked very different to the coglomeration of styles he had been wearing. The scarf managed to cover the scars without overtly hiding them. 

Finally, the darker haired boy let out a small smile and nodded. “It’ll work, I guess.” 

They left the shop after paying (Sora ended up buying the moogle shirt for himself), and headed back to Merlin’s house. Sora and Roxas ran off to see if they could help Leon and Cloud with the construction. Ven helped Vanitas carry his purchases up to the room they were staying in while in Radiant Garden. 

“Ah Lea,” Aerith smiled as she met him in the living room, pointing back to the kitchen. “Isa’s helping Yuffie with dinner preparations. Would you like to help him while I help Kairi and Namine?”

“Geeze with Yuffie cooking, I guess I better make sure she and Isa don’t blow anything up,” Lea waved goodbye to Aerith and stepped through the door to the kitchen. 

Yuffie was already fighitng with the sandwhich bread, cutting slices while arguing with the loaf for not cutting good enough. Lea shook his head and handed her a serrated blade to use instead, then turn towards the stove where Isa was stirring the soup. 

Aerith had done a good job with his hair. It wasn’t quite as short as when they were kids, but it was no longer hanging down his back. Isa had pulled the front section back into a short half ponytail.

“Looks good!” Lea called out, grinning when Isa didn’t even turn around. 

“It’s different,” the blue haired man replied, still stirring the soup, “That’s good enough,”

“Uh huh,” Lea leaned against the counter next to the stove, “How are things here?”

“Good,” Isa stated, “Stirring soup. How was the shopping trip?”

“Pretty good,” Lea answered, looking absently at the spices still out on the counter, “Vanitas seemed as thrilled as he gets.”

“It’s a good day for change.” Isa finally took the spoon out of the soup and took a step back from the stove. “Remember the last flower festival?”

Lea glanced over to where Yuffie was, but found the kitchen empty except for the two of them, a pile of bread sitting on the counter. 

“Yeah,” Lea finally replied, “We wanted to use the festival as a distraction to get into the castle...” Lea crossed his arms, “Worked a little too well...”

“A little...” Isa agreed. After a moment’s pause he finally looked Lea in the eye. “Did you ever blame me?”

“Huh?” Lea blinked, “What do you mean?”

“For wanting to go check out the castle?” Isa elaborated, crossing his own arms, “If it wasn’t for me--”

“Okay, I know I have a bad memory,” Lea interrupted, “But I’m pretty sure we both wanted to go see what Even and the others were up to.” 

“I suggested it.”

“And I agreed!” Lea through his arms up in the air, “Is that seriously why you’ve been so quiet?”

“...maybe.” Isa shrugged, “It’s been odd... to be back, to see everyone. To not have them hate me. Especially Sora and Kairi. They just... go on about their day and say hello and I just want to shout at them to get angry with me to get it over with.”

Lea shook his head and failed at holding back a chuckle, “Have you met Sora or Kairi? I’m not sure either of them know how to hold a grudge.” He finally managed to hold in his laughter for a moment, “Sure, Kairi still calls me kidnapper occasionally, but it’s out of affection and friendly rivalry. And Sora didn’t even blink the first time he saw me after waking up from his first Mastery exam. He was just glad I was back to human.” 

“They still shouldn’t trust me...” Isa returned to stirring the soup.

“They probably shouldn’t trust either of us,” Lea agreed, getting out a spare spoon and taking a quick sip of the mixture, before adding a few more shakes from the salt shaker. “But they do. And I don’t plan on ruining that, do you?”

“No...”

When Lea looked over again, he saw the blue haired man giving a small grin, similar to the ones he had when they were younger. 

“So... about you and Roxas--”

“I’m going to cut you off right there,” Lea huffed, pushing Isa’s shoulder lightly, “What happens between us is between us.” 

Isa let out a startled laugh, “Okay, fine. I was just going to say... it’s nice to see. You had a strong relationship as nobodies.” He looked back towards the soup, “No matter how I tried to deny it, you really were reconnecting to your heart, right?”

“I think so...” Lea gave a small grin at the thought of his blondie. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Yes... I suppose he’s not.” 

“Who’s not what?” a voice behind them said.

Startled, Lea turned around and saw the very blonde they were talking about, followed by his twin and Sora. “Hey Roxy!”

“Ugh... don’t call me that,” Roxas stuck out his tongue. Sora and Ven laughed. 

“Vanitas is taking nap,” Ven explained. “He was a little tired out by the shopping trip.”

“That's understandable,” Isa agreed, “Large groups can be overwhelming if you’re used to being alone.” 

Ven nodded and looked over to where Yuffie left the bread, “Yuffie said something about the bread not cooperating.”

Lea chuckled, “She just doesn’t know how to use the serrated knife. Do you want to give it a go?”

“Sure!” Ven and Sora headed over to the bread, Sora getting out the butter from the fridge to start putting on the bread to make cheese toasties. 

Roxas turned to Lea, “Everything okay here?”

“Perfect, Roxas.” Lea opened his arms in invitation. 

Roxas only hesitated for a moment before stepping into them. The blonde had grown in the time he had been separated from Sora. Now he could easily lay his head on Lea’s shoulder while the redhead wrapped his arms around him. 

“So what are you two doing back? I thought you were helping Leon and the others,” Lea wondered, squeezing tight before letting Roxas go. 

“They were practically done by the time we got there. They’re just cleaning up the tools now and sent us a head to help with dinner.”

“I think he was worried about Yuffie cooking. So we traded off,” Sora stated as he buttered the bread, “She’s getting the rest of the group while we finish up.”

Lea nodded and got out the pan to fry the cheese toasties in. “Hey, Roxas, can you get Sora the cheese from the fridge?”

In short order, they finished up dinner. Leon and the others returned shortly after Lea had started the sandwiches. Leon and Cloud had just checked in for a second before heading up the stairs to shower. Riku grinned when he saw Sora's back to him and he sneaked up on the brunet, wrapping him up in a massive bear hug.

“Ack! Riku! You’re stench is killing me!” Sora cried out, trying to wiggle out of the hold Riku had him in. 

“Nah, you love it,” Riku smirked, only pulling tighter. 

Sora huffed and struggled before Riku finally gave in and let go, “Go take a shower, you stinker.”

“Can’t, Terra got first dibs,” Riku grinned and kissed Sora on the cheek, which the brunet seemed to like better. “Dinner smells good, so I take it you didn’t cook.”

Sora stuck out his tongue, “For your information, I buttered the bread for the sandwiches.”

“Wow! Moing up in the world!” Riku laughed as Sora punched his arm. Riku headed up shortly afterwards to see if Terra was done in the shower so he could clean up as well. 

Merlin had to magically expand the table (and the room) to accommodate the new visitors and guests. Lea is pretty sure no dining room set was meant to hold 18 people, so he was glad to be eating with a wizard. 

Lea sat himself between Isa and Roxas. Across the table, Vanitas was seated between Riku and Ven. He seemed much more relaxed in his new attire, constantly trying to steal the rest of Ven’s cheese toastie, though the blonde wouldn’t let it go.

Lea did notice that Vanitas was studiously ignoring Riku though. Whenever the blackhaired boy had to look at the silverhaired young man, he looked... confused. 

Lea thought back to Isa’s statement about another boy, one about Sora’s height. About silver hair. 

And he wondered...

After dinner, Lea caught Riku’s arm before the keyblade master could run up the stairs after Sora. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Uh... sure?” He waved for Sora to go a head without him. “What’s up?”

Lea opened the front door, following Riku to just outside the house. Once the door was firmly shut he he turned back to the pale haired man. “Do you know what happened to the Replica? From Castle Oblivion?”

“The replica of me?” Riku crossed his arms and looked down, “Yeah... he challenged me to a battle in front of the mansion at Castle Oblivion’s Twilight Town. He lost and then... he sort of faded away.”

“But you don’t think that was the last of him...” Lea pressed. 

Riku glared at him, uncrossing his arms. “Well... I had a theory. That he might have been one of the 13 seekers. But I didn’t see him after the battle, so...”

“What if he wasn’t injured?” Lea thought allowed, “After that light burned off Xehanort’s darkness, what if he wasn’t injured enough for us to pick up. He might have disappeared back to the one place he knew.”

Riku looked doubtful, “Or he came from the past and was returned there.”

“By that account, Vanitas shouldn’t still be here either, and yet...”

“That’s because both Ven and Sora saw him as a separate person.”

“And Sora saw the Replica as a separate person,” Lea explained, “Even when he found out the truth about the Replica, he still thought of him as a person.”

He watched as a smile slipped over Riku’s features. As usual, the mere thought of Sora could make the silverhaired boy grin. Not that Lea could tease. Anyone just mentions Roxas and the redhead feels himself become way more mushy than he has any reason being. 

Finally, Riku let out a sigh. “It might be worth checking out. I’ll go with Terra, Aqua and Ven when they go to check out their home. That’s where Castle Oblivion was. If he still exists, he may have gone there.”

“Bring Sora with you,” Lea advised. “He’s always a friendly face.” After a moment, Lea said, “And maybe Vanitas too.”

“Vanitas?” Riku raised an eyebrow,

“He’s the reason I’m asking in the first place. I think he and the replica were friends. Isa said that Vanitas always hung around another of the shorter hooded figures. One that might have had silver hair.”

“Right...” Riku nodded, “I’ll look into it, and I’ll see if Vanitas would like to come. We’ll have to check that with Terra and the others first.”

“I don’t think they’ll have a problem with it,” Lea stated. “You go on in, I’m just gonna take a moment out here.”

Riku nodded again before heading back inside. Lea found a nearby bench and sat down, just taking a moment to think. 

If the Replica really was alive, well... then he guessed that was one more person he owed an apology too. 

But that was okay, Lea mused. “I’ve been getting so good at it, others are coming to me for advice!” 

“Talking to yourself?”

Lea glanced around and saw Roxas walking towards him. The blonde sat on the bench, quickly grabbing Lea’s arm to wrap around himself. Lea grinned and pulled the blonde in. 

“Nah... always talking to you.”

“Right...” Roxas huffed and burrowed closer. “You okay?”

“I’m great, Roxas.” Lea kissed tilted the blonde’s head up, granting him a small kiss on the lips. They stayed out there till the sun set and the stars came out.

\--

They were packing up the gummiship a few days later when Lea heard Sora give a startled cry. 

“What do you mean you’re getting married?!” The brunet was staring in confusion at Leon and Cloud. The older brunet let out a deep sigh and placed palm up to his forehead while the blonde just chuckled and ruffled Sora's hair.

“They’re still not that subtle!” Riku called back, laughing. 

Lea couldn’t help but join in when he saw Sora's confusion give way to joy, and the shorter brunet gave the two men a big hug that they returned with affection. 

He felt Roxas take his hand. For once in a long time, Lea felt totally at peace with the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dammit Lea, I wasn't going to bring the Riku Replica into this! *sigh* but here we are. 
> 
> Vanitas has slowly wormed his way into my heart for two reasons: 1) the inclusion of his theme in the "Heroes and Heroines" section of the Orchestra track and 2) That brief moment at the very end of Ven's story in BBS when he's reaching for the [Chi]-blade. I dunno, there was something in that expression that just made me empathize with him a little bit. Like, I know he's probably still gonna be an asshole and he's more than a little ooc in the fic a bit, but only because the only Vanitas we know is pure darkness. I like to think that if Xehanort somehow pulled Vanitas out from somewhere, if he did have a full heart now separate from Ventus then that heart would be full of light as well as darkness. I thought it would be interesting to see someone struggle with that. With wanting that connection with people but not knowing how to react in social interactions. 
> 
> So yeah, this isn't the last fic in this series, but it is the last one for a while. I have to get work situated before I can return to writing.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if anything needs to be edited. I try to catch them all, but I am human (worn out, stressed, and craving the chocolate)


End file.
